U.S.-Iran Peace Talks Collapse in Islamabad Over Nuclear Program

Peace negotiations between the United States and Iran collapsed in Islamabad, Pakistan, on April 12, 2026, after 21 hours of discussions. JD Vance, the U.S. Vice President, departed Pakistan following a diplomatic deadlock. U.S. officials stated the talks failed because Iran refused to commit to abandoning its nuclear program and uranium enrichment, which the Trump administration considers a "red line."

Iranian Parliamentary Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, who led the Iranian delegation, attributed the breakdown to deep mistrust and a lack of confidence in the U.S. based on previous conflicts. To emphasize the human cost of the war, Ghalibaf carried portraits and belongings of victims from a destroyed school in Minab on his flight to the negotiations. Simultaneously, the Iranian Embassy in New Delhi hosted an exhibition of children's drawings recovered from that same school, which was destroyed during joint U.S.-Israeli strikes on February 28. The U.S. attributed the school's destruction to a targeting error near an Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps base.

The collapse threatens a fragile two-week ceasefire set to expire on April 22. This follows a conflict launched by the U.S. and Israel on February 28 that has killed at least 3,000 people in Iran and 2,020 in Lebanon. Iran continues to block the Strait of Hormuz, disrupting global energy exports and causing prices to soar, while maintaining a digital blackout within its borders.