We Made Lot Of Progress: US VP JD Vance Says Ball Now In Iran's Court On Peace Talks

New Delhi: US Vice President JD Vance on Monday said that any further negotiations with Iran over a nuclear deal depend entirely on Tehran's willingness to engage, reiterating that the onus lies on the Iranian side to move the talks forward.

The US and Iran failed to reach an agreement in the 21-hour marathon peace talks in Islamabad over the weekend, with Washington insisting that Tehran refused to give up 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," said the US vice president, who led the delegation comprising Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, for the talks with the Iranian delegation. The Iranian delegation included Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf and Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi.

Vance stressed that if America’s "red lines" on Iran’s nuclear ambitions are met, "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 said that the Pakistan peace talks ultimately ended because Iranian negotiators were unable to finalise a deal, adding that the discussions revealed insights into who holds decision-making authority 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 explained.

"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." Vance asserted that he agreed 100 per cent with US President Donald Trump on Iran not having 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 asked.

Vance said it was for the first time that the governments of the US and Iran had met at such a high level. "So that's, I think, a positive—and again, we did make some progress in the negotiation," he said.

Vance said the rising energy prices were "painful" but will not be around forever. "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 said.

Read more:

1. US Vice President Vance-Led Talks Helped Build Goodwill With Iran: Report
2. Diplomacy Never Ends: Iran Says No One Expected To Reach Agreement In One Meeting