US-Iran Talks in Islamabad End Without Agreement; Pakistan Mediator Role Under Scrutiny as Af-Pak Next Round Awaits

The high-stakes US-Iran peace talks hosted by Pakistan in Islamabad ended on April 12 without an agreement. VP JD Vance announced the talks had not led to an agreement; Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei said talks ended with 'gaps between the sides on several major issues,' with nuclear weapons being the primary sticking point. The failure placed Pakistan's newly minted mediator role under scrutiny. For the Afghanistan-Pakistan conflict, the outcome had indirect but significant implications: Pakistan's diplomatic credibility — and domestic political justification for de-escalating the Af-Pak conflict — depended partly on its ability to deliver as a peace broker. The failure of the Islamabad process, at least in its first round, echoed structural challenges in the Urumqi process as well: both featured parties committed to non-escalation but deeply divided on core issues. Pakistan signaled that the second round of Urumqi talks remained on track for end of April, and that the Af-Pak non-escalation commitment remained in force. The Taliban welcomed the US-Iran talks failure as a reputational setback for Islamabad, but Afghan foreign ministry officials maintained the focus on the scheduled end-of-April Urumqi follow-on.