United States Vice President JD Vance on Sunday said that 21 hours of peace talks between the US and Iran in Pakistani capital Islamabad ended without an agreement to end the war.

“They have chosen not to accept our terms,” Vance said at a press conference.

Iran, however, said that the “unreasonable demands” by the US had derailed the talks, the country’s state broadcaster IRIB reported.

The development came four days after Washington and Tehran agreed to a two-week ceasefire to allow further negotiations to end the war.

Israel was not involved in the talks. While its forces have not struck Iran since the ceasefire took effect, they have continued to carry out strikes in Lebanon.

Here are more top updates from the conflict in West Asia:

At a press conference lasting just more than three minutes, the US vice president said that Washington had been “quite flexible” and “quite accommodating” in the negotiations. “But again, we just could not get to a situation where the Iranians were willing to accept our terms,” he said. “We leave here with a very simple proposal: a method of understanding that is our final and best offer…We’ll see if the Iranians accept it.”Vance added that the US needed “an affirmative commitment” from Iran that it would not “seek a nuclear weapon” and the “tools that would enable them to quickly achieve a nuclear weapon”. “Their nuclear program, such as it is – the enrichment facilities that they had before – they’ve been destroyed.” However, he said that Washington had not yet seen a “fundamental commitment of will for the Iranians not to develop a nuclear weapon, not just now, not just two years from now, but for the long-term”. “We hope that we will,” Vance added. The US delegation has departed from Pakistan.Iranian state broadcaster IRIB said that the country’s delegation “negotiated continuously and intensively for 21 hours in order to protect the national interests of the Iranian people”. It added that “various issues, including the Strait of Hormuz, nuclear rights…have been among the points of contention”. The state broadcaster added that “despite various initiatives from the Iranian delegation, the unreasonable demands of the American side prevented the progress of the negotiations…Thus the negotiations ended”. Earlier in the day, Iranian foreign ministry’s spokesperson Esmaeil Baqaei had said that the success of the peace talks depended on the US avoiding “excessive demands” and “unlawful requests”.“The success of this diplomatic process depends on the seriousness and good faith of the opposing side…and the acceptance of Iran’s legitimate rights and interests,” Baqaei had said in a social media post. He had added: “In the past 24 hours, discussions were held on various dimensions of the main negotiation topics, including the Strait of Hormuz, the nuclear issue, war reparations, lifting of sanctions, and the complete end to the war against Iran and in the region.”The war

The US and Israel launched an attack on Iran on February 28, claiming that Tehran’s action posed an existential threat to Israel. Washington acts as a guarantor of Israel’s security. Iran retaliated by striking Israel and US military bases in the region and targeting major cities in Gulf countries.

Tehran also effectively blocked the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow waterbody connecting the Gulf to the Arabian Sea, for most international commercial vessels, triggering a global energy crisis. About 20% of global petroleum supply passes through the maritime chokepoint.

Israel has been claiming that Iran is close to obtaining a nuclear weapon, which could alter the regional security balance. Tehran has long maintained that its nuclear programme is for civilian purposes.