US Iran negotiations in Islamabad collapsed almost embarrassingly.

But why? What happened in those 21 hours at the most highstake meeting between US and Iran in over 40 years ended in a stalemate? What went wrong? Who blinked first? And who refused to nudge? Hello and welcome.

I am Nikita Kapoor and you are watching Decode.

And in this episode, we decode the whole 21 hours and we break it down hour by hour.

We decode what really happened inside that meeting room that Iran and US don’t want you to know.

Let’s begin.

The Serena Hotel, Islamabad, Saturday morning.

Thousands and thousands of paramilitary troops lined the streets near the Serena Hotel.

Guests were asked to vacate the hotel.

The Pakistani Super League had been suspended.

Fuel rationing was in effect.

thumbnail

Patrol had hit 458 Pakistani rupees a liter, a 40% surge in a single month.

And yet Pakistan wanted the world to watch because inside that hotel two delegations American and Iranian were about to sit across from each other for the first time in nearly half a century.

The highest level direct engagement between Washington DC and Thran since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

on one side, a vice president of the United States.

On the other, Iran’s parliament speaker who had arrived on a plane carrying photographs of children killed in Iranian air strikes.

This was either the beginning of peace or the last room before the next war.

It turned out to be the latter.

None of this happened in a vacuum.

For those who don’t know, the war began on February 28th, 2026 with joint US-Israeli strikes that killed Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatah Ali Kamini and other senior leaders as well.

Iran responded with missile and drone attacks on Israel and Gulf states.

The conflict had already lasted 6 weeks, claimed thousands and thousands of lives and disrupted global energy markets.

Now enter Pakistan, a country more frequently in news for terrorism alerts and IMF bailouts.

A nation historically viewed through the lens of deep, deep security concerns suddenly becomes peace broker.

How did that happen? Well, Pakistan’s army chief Aim Munir spoke directly to Trump on March 22nd.

Two days later, Pakistan formally offered to host talks.

Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif echoed the offer publicly on X tagging Donald Trump, Abasar Raji and Steve Witkov.

And then the master stroke.

With barely 90 minutes left before Donald Trump’s deadline to destroy Iran’s civilization, Trump took to Truth Social and announced a ceasefire saying he had agreed to it after conversations with Shahibaz Sharif and Pakistan’s field marshal Asimir.

Pakistan had done what Oman couldn’t, what Kadar wouldn’t, and what Europe wasn’t even invited to.

Pakistan had secured deals on rare earths, nominated Trump for a Nobel Peace Prize and joined Trump’s board of peace.

Trump even referred to Asamunir as his favorite field marshal.

Flattery, as it turns out, is a foreign policy tool.

and Islamabad.

Islamabad was now at the center of the world.

Now the inside story, what actually happened across those 21 hours? Saturday 10:30 a.

m.

Pakistan time.

JD Wans landed at Nur Khan air base where he was greeted by foreign minister Ishakdar, interior minister Mosen Nakwi and field marshal Aimir.

An elite American delegation including special envoy Steve Witkov, Jared Kushner, deputy national security adviser Andrew Baker and Asian affairs adviser Michael Wans.

The Iranian side had arrived earlier.

A delegation led by Parliament Speaker Muhammad Ber Galibb and even foreign minister Abbas Arachi along with political security and economic officials straight from Iran.

Before the talks even began, Galibah set the tone.

on the plane to Islamabad.

He looked at photographs of children killed in air strikes by Israel and US and told reporters and I quote, “Unfortunately, our experience of negotiating with the Americans has always been accompanied by failure and breaches of commitments.

Twice within less than a year in the middle of negotiations, they attacked us.

” That was the Iranian state of mind walking through the toll.

Afternoon Saturday after more than 5 hours of talks, delegations had moved into an expert level stage with economic, military, legal and even nuclear committees exchanging written proposals back and forth.

The straight of hormos emerged as a key sticking point in the technical committees.

There had been reports of a 10point Iranian draft plan which Trump had described as a workable basis for negotiation and a 15point Washington plan neither formally unveiled to the public ever.

The agenda was staggering in scope.

Iran’s foreign ministry confirmed that negotiations covered the straight of war, Iran’s nuclear ambitions, its nuclear program, war reparations, sanctions relief, and a complete end to the war in the region.

Through the night, the sun went down on Islamabad and then came up again.

JD Vance was in constant contact.

The meeting was still on.

Vance was speaking with Trump Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Defense Secretary Pete Hexith, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, and Sentcom Commander as well, Admiral Brad Cooper.

And what was Trump doing? Telling reporters that we are negotiating whether we make a deal or not makes no difference to me because we have won.

Not exactly the posture of a man who wants peace.

According to two US officials cited by the Wall Street Journal, Washington laid out sweeping demands, a complete end to Iran’s uranium enrichment, the dismantling of all major nuclear enrichment facilities in Iran, the transfer of highlyenriched uranium out of Iran entirely, a full reopening of the Strait of Warmuz with no tolls, and an end to Iranian support for proxy groups including Hezbollah and Yemen.

women’s hoodies and Iran’s response to that Iran refused to halt enrichment or agree to dismantle its nuclear infrastructure.

It was unwilling to fully reopen the straight of Hormuz and it flatly rejected cutting financial support to armed groups.

Informed sources also pointed to a financial dispute, disagreement over the amount of Iran’s frozen assets that Washington was prepared to release.

Five issues, five dead ends.

Sunday after 7:00 a.

m.

Islamabad time, JDS boarded Air Force 2 at 7:08 a.

m.

local time.

He said that we have not reached an agreement.

On the other side, Iran’s parliament speaker Galibav also acknowledged the same stalemate.

Iran said it was inches away from a deal.

Meanwhile, America said Iran chose not to accept its terms.

The truth as always is somewhere in a room neither side will fully open to us.

Within hours of JD vans boarding the plane, Donald Trump was on truth social again.

He declared the blockade of the straight of Hormos.

US Central Command confirmed that the blockade would begin on April 13th, applying equally to ships of all the nations calling at Iranian ports across the urban Gulf and Gulf of Oman.

Iran also announced that it has no plans for further nuclear talks with the United States of America.

The result, oil prices jumped again and the market felt the shock.

And Pakistan foreign minister Shakar described the 21-hour summit and I quote intense and constructive urging both sides to uphold the ceasefire.

That is the diplomatic equivalent of hosting a dinner party that ends in a food fight and telling everyone they had great table manners.

So here is what we know.

Two powers sat in a hotel in Islamabad for 21 straight hours.

The longest highest level talks between them since the revolution that created the Islamic Republic in 1979.

They had written proposals, expert committees, technical papers, five negotiating tracks, and they left with nothing.

Well, not exactly nothing.

America left with a blocket order.

Iran left with a closed straight.

The world left with oil above $100, a barrel, and a ceasefire that can collapse any moment.

Almost 3,400 people have been killed in Iran since the war began, including more than 1,600 civilians, innocent civilians.

Pakistan, meanwhile, gets to say it brought the two sides to the table, which is true.

What it couldn’t do was make them want the same thing once they got there.

And there you have it.

All the inside details of the diplomatic collapse of the year.

What do you think about it? Tell us in the comment section below.