First US-Iran talks in decades end without deal but dialogue ‘still alive’

Iranian and US officials ended their highest-level talks in decades in Islamabad on Monday without a breakthrough; however, sources familiar with the negotiations said dialogue was still alive, Reuters reported.

Among the slew of issues at stake was the Strait of Hormuz, a major transit point for global energy supplies that Iran has effectively blocked, but the US has vowed to reopen, as well as Iran's nuclear programme and international sanctions on Tehran.

A US source said the Iranians did not properly understand that the core US aim was to have a deal that ensured Iran would never obtain a nuclear weapon. Among Iran's concerns was a distrust of US intentions.

The weekend meeting to resolve the conflict between the US and Iran, held four days after last Tuesday's ceasefire announcement, was the first direct encounter between US and Iranian officials in more than a decade and the most senior engagement since Iran's 1979 Islamic Revolution.