US envoy: Washington lost hope for Iran deal after second round of talks

U.S. Special Envoy Steve Witkoff has stated that Washington had lost hope of reaching a peace agreement with Tehran by the end of the second round of negotiations.

“We went in there and tried to make a fair deal with them, and it was very, very clear that it was going to be impossible — probably by the end of the second meeting, but we then went back for the third meeting just to give it the last college try,” The Times of Israel quoted the special envoy as saying.

According to Witkoff, during the first meeting, Iranian negotiators said they possessed 460 kilograms of uranium enriched to 60% — enough to produce 11 nuclear warheads. “They were proud that they had evaded all sorts of oversight protocols,”

Witkoff added that the United States had proposed that Iran dismantle its missile program, abandon support for proxy forces, liquidate its fleet, and halt uranium enrichment. However, by the end of the second round of talks, it had become clear that “it was qoing to be impossible.” He described the third meeting as a “last college try,” which ultimately failed to yield results.

Iran and the United States held three rounds of negotiations on Iran’s nuclear program. The Iranian delegation was led by Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, while the U.S. side was headed by Steve Witkoff. The third round concluded on February 26 — two days before the launch of a U.S.-Israeli operation against Iran.

By Khagan Isayev