The Islamabad talks were doomed to failure – and Hormuz blockade has thrown another obstacle to any Iran-US deal

U.S. Vice President JD Vance leaves Islamabad on April 12, 2026. Jacquelyn Martin - Pool/Getty Images Jacquelyn Martin/Getty Images

Twenty-one hours of direct negotiations. The highest-level face-to-face engagement between Washington and Tehran since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

And yet, U.S. Vice President JD Vance boarded Air Force Two in Islamabad on the morning of April 12, 2026, with no deal to end the U.S. and Israeli war against Iran, including an understanding over Tehran’s nuclear ambitions.