Top Iran Diplomat: Deal 'Inches Away,' Trump Team Sabotaged Talks

The Trump administration's negotiating team, which consisted principally of Vice President JD Vance and special envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, reportedly set down numerous“red lines” during the Islamabad talks this past weekend, including demanding that Iran end all uranium enrichment – which Iran has a right to conduct under the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons – and dismantle its major nuclear energy facilities.

“We just could not get to a situation where the Iranians were willing to accept our terms,” Vance told reporters on Sunday.“I think that we were quite flexible.”

US President Donald Trump claimed on social media that“the meeting went well, most points were agreed to, but the only point that really mattered, NUCLEAR, was not.”

Iran's top negotiator, Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, wrote following the talks that“due to the experiences of the two previous wars, we have no trust in the opposing side.”

After the single day of talks faltered, Trump announced a naval blockade on the Strait of Hormuz, an illegal act of war that critics warned could plunge the two sides into a deeper conflict.

“It is concerning that Vance already suggests that the US has put forward a final and best offer, suggesting that the US is still trying to dictate terms rather than negotiate a better future,” said Ryan Costello, policy director at the National Iranian American Council.“We urge President Trump to walk back his blockade threat and for the US and Iran to reengage and consider implementing practical steps where there is agreement to lower tensions and build on this fragile pause to the war.”