The collapse of last-ditch nuclear negotiations between the United States and Iran prompted President Donald Trump to authorize joint military strikes with Israel over the weekend, according to Steve Witkoff, the US special envoy who led the talks. Witkoff detailed the final, unsuccessful efforts to reach an agreement, outlining a series of meetings held in Geneva with Jared Kushner, President Trump’s son-in-law.
Witkoff described a US proposal for a decade-long halt to uranium enrichment by Iran, coupled with financial support from Washington to provide fuel. “We discussed with them ten years of no enrichment whatsoever, and we would pay for the fuel,” he said. “They rejected that, which told us at that exceptionally moment that they had no notion of doing anything other than retaining enrichment to the purpose of weaponizing.”
The envoy indicated that even by the end of the second meeting, he and Kushner, who was tasked with brokering the deal, believed a breakthrough was unlikely. Despite this assessment, they participated in a third round of talks, characterizing it as a final attempt to secure a positive outcome. “It was very clear it was going to be impossible, probably by the end of the second meeting, but then we went back to the third meeting just to give it the last college try,” Witkoff stated. He added that Iranian negotiators appeared more concerned with presenting a narrative of progress than achieving a substantive agreement. “They wanted us to report positivity,” Witkoff said. “It was not positive that meeting.”
The failure to reach a diplomatic resolution directly led to Trump’s announcement of coordinated strikes with Israel, targeting Iranian nuclear facilities. Prior to the operation, Trump publicly called on Tehran to yield to US demands. “They should make a deal, but they don’t want to quite go far enough,” he said Friday during a visit to Texas, as reported by the BBC. “They don’t want to say the key words: ‘We’re not going to have a nuclear weapon.’”
According to a report in The Guardian, Trump’s decision regarding potential airstrikes was heavily influenced by the assessments of both Witkoff and Kushner regarding Iran’s willingness to negotiate in good faith. The report indicated that the administration was awaiting Iran’s latest proposal this week, ahead of scheduled negotiations in Geneva.
Witkoff’s account comes after reports that Trump was “curious” as to why Iran had not “capitulated” in the face of the US military build-up in the Middle East, as reported by the BBC. The US has been increasing its military presence in the region in recent weeks, raising tensions and prompting concerns about a potential escalation of conflict.
Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi had previously indicated a willingness to continue diplomatic efforts, stating on Sunday that there was still a chance for a resolution “based on a win-win game,” and that negotiators were working on the elements of a potential agreement, according to the BBC. Araghchi also stated that Tehran was preparing a draft agreement for Witkoff’s review.
