(DDM) – A top American envoy says that by the time of the third round of negotiations with Iran in Geneva, it had become “impossible” to reach a nuclear agreement before the United States and Israel launched major military strikes this past weekend.
Diaspora Digital Media (DDM) gathered that Donald Trump dispatched his special envoy, Steve Witkoff, along with his son‑in‑law Jared Kushner, to determine whether Tehran was genuinely willing to accept terms aimed at limiting its nuclear program.
Witkoff described the three successive meetings in Geneva as the final attempt to secure a deal that could satisfy American demands and avert war.
During those talks, the U.S. delegation offered what Witkoff characterized as a generous proposal: a decade‑long moratorium on uranium enrichment, with the United States providing fuel in return.
“We discussed with them ten years of no enrichment whatsoever, and we would pay for the fuel,” Witkoff said.
According to the envoy, Iran rejected that proposal outright, signaling — in Washington’s view — that Tehran was not interested in meaningful constraints on its nuclear activities.
Witkoff said that after the second round of talks, it became increasingly clear that an agreement was unattainable.
“By the end of the second meeting, it was very clear it was going to be impossible,” he said.
Still, he and Kushner returned for a third session “just to give it the last college try,” he added, underscoring the White House’s desire to exhaust diplomatic avenues before resorting to force.
“It was not positive that meeting,” he said.
The collapse of the talks came just days before the coordinated U.S.-Israeli air campaign against Iranian targets, an operation that has since widened into broader regional conflict.
The strikes marked a dramatic escalation in longstanding tensions between Washington, Tel Aviv, and Tehran — tensions rooted in disputes over Iran’s nuclear ambitions, missile program, and regional influence.
Speaking to reporters in Texas around the time the strikes began, Trump publicly blamed Tehran for failing to embrace a credible deal.
“They should make a deal, but they don’t want to quite go far enough,” he said.
“They don’t want to say the key words: ‘We’re not going to have a nuclear weapon.’”
The president’s remarks reflected a core demand of the U.S. negotiating position: that Iran explicitly renounce any intention of developing nuclear weapons.
For years, U.S. officials have insisted that Tehran’s nuclear program must be limited to peaceful purposes, arguing that a weapons‑capable nuclear infrastructure would destabilize the Middle East.
Iran, for its part, has maintained that its nuclear activities are for civilian energy and medical research, while resisting external constraints that it perceives as infringing on its sovereignty.
Analysts say that Iran’s refusal to accept the U.S. proposal — especially the complete halt to enrichment — ultimately convinced Washington that diplomatic options were exhausted.
The timeline of meetings, which unfolded over several days in Geneva, illustrates how close the parties came to an agreement even as mistrust lingered on both sides.
With the talks now defunct and military operations underway, U.S. and Iranian officials appear to be shifting their strategies from negotiation to confrontation.
The breakdown of the talks and ensuing strikes have already triggered a broader cycle of retaliation across the region, raising fears that the conflict could draw in additional states and non‑state actors.
As fighting continues, the failure of diplomacy in Geneva is likely to shape strategic calculations in both capitals for months, if not years, to come.
