US-Iran talks pause for now, disagreements remain

April 12 (Reuters) - U.S. Vice President JD Vance said on Sunday that his negotiating ​team was leaving Pakistan after not reaching a deal with Iran after 21 hours of negotiations.

Vance cited shortcomings in the talks and said Iran ‌had chosen not to accept American terms, including to not build nuclear weapons.

"The bad news is that we have not reached an agreement, and I think that's bad news for Iran much more than it's bad news for the United States of America," Vance said. "So we go back to the United States having not come to an agreement. We've made very clear what our red lines ​are."

Vance said he talked with U.S. President Donald Trump half a dozen times during the talks.

The talks in Islamabad were the first direct U.S.-Iranian meeting ​in more than a decade and the highest-level discussions since the 1979 Islamic Revolution. The outcome could determine the fate of ⁠the fragile two-week ceasefire and the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, a chokepoint for about 20% of global energy supplies that Iran has blocked since the war ​began. The conflict has sent global oil prices soaring and killed thousands of people.

In a post on X, Iran's government said that the talks had concluded and technical ​experts from both sides would exchange documents.

"Negotiations will continue despite some remaining differences," the post added, though it did not say when they would restart.

Vance, special envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner met Iranian Parliamentary Speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf and Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi for two hours before a rest, according to a source from mediator Pakistan.

The Iranian delegation arrived on Friday dressed in ​black in mourning for late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and others killed in the war. They carried shoes and bags of some students killed during the U.S. bombing ​of a school next to a military compound, the Iranian government said. The Pentagon has said the strike is under investigation but Reuters has reported that military investigators believe the U.S. was ‌likely responsible ⁠for it.