Islamabad Ceasefire Talks Collapse — US and Iran Fail to Reach a Deal

The Islamabad ceasefire talks, hosted by Pakistan PM Shehbaz Sharif, ended in failure after two rounds of negotiations into the early hours of April 12. The first round lasted approximately two hours; a second round of technical discussions followed. US officials said the gap on Hormuz reopening, sanctions relief, war reparations, and Lebanon remained unbridgeable. Iran demanded Israel cease Lebanon operations and frozen assets released before any Hormuz normalization. The US refused to link the issues. Pakistan's NSA, who helped broker the earlier ceasefire, played a key mediating role but could not close the gap. No timeline for resumed negotiations set.