The day diplomacy died: Inside the collapse of the US-Iran nuclear talks

Diplomacy unravels as missiles rain

Before the strike, there was still some hope. The US and Iran had agreed to meet in Muscat to discuss a possible nuclear deal. The idea was to bring both sides back to the table and find some middle ground.

That window slammed shut the moment Israeli jets took off.

But once the bombs dropped, that hope vanished. Oman’s Foreign Minister confirmed that the talks were called off because the region became too unstable.

Israel’s operation, which started on June 13, is now being described as the biggest attack on Iran since the Iran-Iraq War in the 1980s.

Among those reportedly killed: senior Iranian commanders Ali Shamkhani, Hossein Salami, and Gholamali Rashid, along with nuclear experts like Mohammad Tehranchi and Fereydoun Abbasi. Natanz , the centerpiece of Iran’s enrichment program, was among the first sites hit.

Why now? The build-up behind the blitz

One big reason: a recent UN nuclear watchdog report said Iran is now enriching uranium up to 60 percent, dangerously close to weapons-grade (90 percent). Under the 2015 nuclear deal (JCPOA), Iran was only allowed to go up to 3.67 percent.

According to Javed Ali, a former US National Security Council official, the attack was a year in the making. It began with the October 7, 2023, Hamas assault on Israel, which set off a chain reaction.

• Israel quietly hit Iran’s missile defenses in smaller operations in April and October 2024.


• The US targeted Houthi fighters in Yemen, one of Iran’s key allies.

So when Israel launched its major strike in June 2025, Iran’s usual allies were silent. The battlefield had been cleared in advance.

What did Israel hit?

The attack on June 13 wasn’t a single airstrike. It was a multidimensional, multi-city campaign that targeted Iran’s:

• Natanz: Key uranium enrichment site; confirmed contamination and infrastructure damage.


• Parchin: Suspected nuclear development base outside Tehran, hit hard.


• Khondab Reactor: Potential plutonium source for weapons.


• Kermanshah: Home to ballistic missile systems.


• Tabriz: Another nuclear research center; secondary explosions reported.

Beyond infrastructure, Israel has also targeted knowledge, assassinating a generation of Iran’s nuclear minds, including Abbasi, a former Atomic Energy chief previously wounded in a 2010 car bomb plot blamed on Mossad.

The diplomacy that might’ve been

Just days before the strike, both the US and Iran were still showing a cautious willingness to talk. At a meeting in Rome on May 25, the fifth round of discussions had made some progress. Washington was pushing Iran to stop enriching uranium, while Tehran insisted it had the right to enrich small amounts under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.

In an unexpected move, Iran even revived a proposal first floated in 2007, a joint nuclear project involving Arab countries and backed by American investment. This so-called 'bearhug model,' as described by The New York Times, would have tied Iran’s nuclear programme to peaceful energy use, with oversight from regional players like Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and the US.

But while diplomats were still trading proposals, Israel was already preparing bombs. And according to reports, the US may have quietly known all along.

Was the US in on it?

Officially? No. But unofficially, all signs point to quiet coordination.

The Trump administration has denied involvement. But multiple reports say According to Middle East Eye, the US quietly shipped 300 Hellfire missiles to Israel days before the attack. Reuters reports that US systems helped intercept Iran’s retaliatory missiles. Axios, citing Israeli officials, claims the US was merely “pretending” to oppose the strikes while offering tacit support.

Though Trump had earlier pushed Netanyahu to give talks ‘one last chance,’ the strike still went ahead, and Washington has offered no criticism.

What’s next?  

With talks derailed and trust obliterated, the prospect of a new nuclear agreement is bleak. Iran, humiliated and cornered, may double down, accelerating enrichment, hardening underground sites, and pulling away from the IAEA’s oversight regime, according to Centre for Strategic & International Studies.

For Israel, this may be just the beginning. Netanyahu has hinted at a long campaign, with more sites potentially in the crosshairs. Fordow, Esfahan, and Bushehr remain on the list.

Regional players, including Russia, China, and the Gulf states, are watching closely. Moscow and Beijing, both aligned with Tehran, may interpret the strike as a destabilising move by the West. The Gulf, though wary of Iran, fears an uncontrollable war.

Forty-three years ago, Operation Opera reshaped the nuclear balance of power in the Middle East, but it also helped fuel a covert arms race. In 2025, history may be rhyming again.