Two U.S. war ships transited the Strait of Hormuz Saturday ahead of their mine-clearing operation as ceasefire talks were underway with Vice President JD Vance in Pakistan.

A direct meeting between the two sides would be the first meeting of its since the war began. But there are a few hurdles Iran wants the U.S. to clear first.

Vance said that the core dispute was on nuclear weapons. Iran insists it is not pursuing an atomic bomb, and the United States and Israel bombed sensitive Iranian sites both in the war launched on February 28 as well as last year.

The United States and Iran have failed to strike a peace deal to end the now six-week war, Vice President JD Vance announced early on Sunday in Pakistan. “The bad news is that we have not reached an agreement,

U.S. Vice President JD Vance said on Sunday that his negotiating team was leaving Pakistan after not reaching a deal with Iran following 21 hours of negotiations, jeopardizing a fragile two-week ceasefire.

Iran said it had no plans for more nuclear talks with the U.S. after negotiations brokered by Pakistan failed. “No program has yet been announced for the time, place, or next round of negotiations,” said Nour,

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said he does not expect negotiations with the United States over Tehran’s nuclear program to “reach a conclusion” as Washington toughens its conditions for a deal.

The U. and Iran were to hold negotiations in the Pakistani capital Islamabad on Saturday to end their six-week-old war, although Tehran threw the talks into doubt by saying they could not begin without commitments on Lebanon and sanctions.