US Vice President JD Vance on Monday said Washington had made “a lot of progress” in recent talks with Iran to end the ongoing conflict, adding that it was now for Tehran to take the next step.
The remarks came after a 21-hour round of negotiations between the two sides in Islamabad over the weekend ended without an agreement, with the United States maintaining that Iran was unwilling to forgo its right to enrich nuclear fuel.
“I wouldn't just say that things went wrong. I also think things went right. We made a lot of progress,” Vance told Fox News.
“They moved in our direction, which is why I think we would say that we had some good signs, but they didn't move far enough,” he said.
Vance, who led the US delegation that included Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, held discussions with an Iranian team comprising Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf and Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi.
He said that if US “red lines” regarding Iran’s nuclear programme were met, a deal could still be possible.
“Then this can be a very, very good deal for both countries.”
“Whether we have further conversations, whether we ultimately get to a deal, I really think the ball is in the Iranian court, because we put a lot on the table,” Vance said.
The Vice President noted that the talks ended as Iranian negotiators were unable to finalise an agreement and needed to seek approval from authorities in Tehran.
“What we figured out is that they were unable, I think - the team that was there, was unable to cut a deal,” he said.
“They had to go back to Tehran, either from the supreme leader or somebody else, and actually get approval to the terms that we had set.”
Reiterating Washington’s position, Vance said he was in full agreement with President Donald Trump on preventing Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons.
“I 100 per cent agree with @POTUS on the fact that Iran can't have a nuclear weapon... If they're willing to engage in economic terrorism on the entire world, what would it mean - what leverage would they have - if they had a nuclear bomb in Tehran,” he said. He also described the high-level engagement itself as a positive development.
“So that's, I think, a positive-and again, we did make some progress in the negotiation,” he said.
Vance also acknowledged that rising energy prices were “painful” but said efforts were under way to address the issue.
“We know the American people are hurting, that's why we're negotiating so aggressively to try to get the energy prices to come down. We're going to keep on working at it,” he added.
This comes as the US military vowed to blockade all Iranian ports starting Monday in an effort to force Tehran to open the crucial Strait of Hormuz and accept a peace deal. Iran responded with threats on all ports in the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman, taking aim at US-allied countries.
(With inputs from PTI)
