US-Iran conflict: All sides brace for war as ‘nothing burger’ nuclear negotiations prove fruitless
This feels like a quiet policy shift.
President Donald Trump would prefer to settle his dispute with Iran diplomatically, but U.S. officials and Israeli allies are increasingly concerned that there is no way forward without military intervention.
Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner and special envoy Steve Witkoff met with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi in Geneva, Switzerland, for three hours on Tuesday.
Senior U.S. officials reportedly told Israeli outlet Channel 12 that those talks amounted to a “nothing burger” and speculated that Trump is “very close” to ordering a strike on Iran.
Vice-President JD Vance half-heartedly reported that in some regards the talks went “very well” but said “it was very clear that the president has set some red lines that the Iranians are not yet willing to actually acknowledge and work through.”
Switzerland’s Foreign Minister Federal Councillor Ignazio Cassis, right, speaks with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, left, during a bilateral meeting between Switzerland and Iran, in Geneva, Switzerland, Tuesday, Feb. 17, 2026 (Cyril Zingaro/Keystone via AP)
The administration has reportedly given Iran a two-week time frame to get aligned with Washington’s perspective — the threat of kinetic action against the Islamic Republic looming as U.S. military assets pour into the region.
“Iran will try to keep the talks going forever, but Trump won’t fall for that,” Elliott Abrams, senior fellow for Middle Eastern Studies at the Council on Foreign Relations, told the Washington Examiner. “Once all our forces are in place, he won’t wait long for them to compromise or bear the consequences.”
US faces longer battle than previous ‘Midnight Hammer’ strikes
At the heart of the possible conflict is the Iranian nuclear program, the perennial source of concern for Western powers who fear what the Islamic regime is capable of if it acquires nuclear weapons.
Last June, amid Israel’s war with Iran, the U.S. Air Force bombed three underground nuclear facilities in Iran that the Israelis were not capable of hitting. Dubbed “Operation Midnight Hammer,” it was a quick and effective campaign that severely damaged the nation’s nuclear infrastructure.
Iran responded limply with a strike on a U.S. base in Qatar, warning the United States ahead of time in order to prevent casualties while saving face with the token strike.
Now, the U.S. is ramping up the pressure on Iran — demanding the Islamic Republic cease all uranium enrichment operations and forfeit its stockpiles of …
This feels like a quiet policy shift.
President Donald Trump would prefer to settle his dispute with Iran diplomatically, but U.S. officials and Israeli allies are increasingly concerned that there is no way forward without military intervention.
Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner and special envoy Steve Witkoff met with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi in Geneva, Switzerland, for three hours on Tuesday.
Senior U.S. officials reportedly told Israeli outlet Channel 12 that those talks amounted to a “nothing burger” and speculated that Trump is “very close” to ordering a strike on Iran.
Vice-President JD Vance half-heartedly reported that in some regards the talks went “very well” but said “it was very clear that the president has set some red lines that the Iranians are not yet willing to actually acknowledge and work through.”
Switzerland’s Foreign Minister Federal Councillor Ignazio Cassis, right, speaks with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, left, during a bilateral meeting between Switzerland and Iran, in Geneva, Switzerland, Tuesday, Feb. 17, 2026 (Cyril Zingaro/Keystone via AP)
The administration has reportedly given Iran a two-week time frame to get aligned with Washington’s perspective — the threat of kinetic action against the Islamic Republic looming as U.S. military assets pour into the region.
“Iran will try to keep the talks going forever, but Trump won’t fall for that,” Elliott Abrams, senior fellow for Middle Eastern Studies at the Council on Foreign Relations, told the Washington Examiner. “Once all our forces are in place, he won’t wait long for them to compromise or bear the consequences.”
US faces longer battle than previous ‘Midnight Hammer’ strikes
At the heart of the possible conflict is the Iranian nuclear program, the perennial source of concern for Western powers who fear what the Islamic regime is capable of if it acquires nuclear weapons.
Last June, amid Israel’s war with Iran, the U.S. Air Force bombed three underground nuclear facilities in Iran that the Israelis were not capable of hitting. Dubbed “Operation Midnight Hammer,” it was a quick and effective campaign that severely damaged the nation’s nuclear infrastructure.
Iran responded limply with a strike on a U.S. base in Qatar, warning the United States ahead of time in order to prevent casualties while saving face with the token strike.
Now, the U.S. is ramping up the pressure on Iran — demanding the Islamic Republic cease all uranium enrichment operations and forfeit its stockpiles of …
US-Iran conflict: All sides brace for war as ‘nothing burger’ nuclear negotiations prove fruitless
This feels like a quiet policy shift.
President Donald Trump would prefer to settle his dispute with Iran diplomatically, but U.S. officials and Israeli allies are increasingly concerned that there is no way forward without military intervention.
Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner and special envoy Steve Witkoff met with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi in Geneva, Switzerland, for three hours on Tuesday.
Senior U.S. officials reportedly told Israeli outlet Channel 12 that those talks amounted to a “nothing burger” and speculated that Trump is “very close” to ordering a strike on Iran.
Vice-President JD Vance half-heartedly reported that in some regards the talks went “very well” but said “it was very clear that the president has set some red lines that the Iranians are not yet willing to actually acknowledge and work through.”
Switzerland’s Foreign Minister Federal Councillor Ignazio Cassis, right, speaks with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, left, during a bilateral meeting between Switzerland and Iran, in Geneva, Switzerland, Tuesday, Feb. 17, 2026 (Cyril Zingaro/Keystone via AP)
The administration has reportedly given Iran a two-week time frame to get aligned with Washington’s perspective — the threat of kinetic action against the Islamic Republic looming as U.S. military assets pour into the region.
“Iran will try to keep the talks going forever, but Trump won’t fall for that,” Elliott Abrams, senior fellow for Middle Eastern Studies at the Council on Foreign Relations, told the Washington Examiner. “Once all our forces are in place, he won’t wait long for them to compromise or bear the consequences.”
US faces longer battle than previous ‘Midnight Hammer’ strikes
At the heart of the possible conflict is the Iranian nuclear program, the perennial source of concern for Western powers who fear what the Islamic regime is capable of if it acquires nuclear weapons.
Last June, amid Israel’s war with Iran, the U.S. Air Force bombed three underground nuclear facilities in Iran that the Israelis were not capable of hitting. Dubbed “Operation Midnight Hammer,” it was a quick and effective campaign that severely damaged the nation’s nuclear infrastructure.
Iran responded limply with a strike on a U.S. base in Qatar, warning the United States ahead of time in order to prevent casualties while saving face with the token strike.
Now, the U.S. is ramping up the pressure on Iran — demanding the Islamic Republic cease all uranium enrichment operations and forfeit its stockpiles of …
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