2025–2026 Iran–United States negotiations

On April 12, 2025, Iran and the United States began a series of negotiations aimed at reaching a nuclear peace agreement, following a letter from U.S. president Donald Trump to Iranian supreme leader Ali Khamenei. Trump set a two-month (60 day) deadline for Iran to reach an agreement. After the deadline passed without an agreement, Israel attacked Iran, igniting a war between the two countries.

The first round of high-level meetings was held in Oman on April 12, 2025, led by U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff and Iranian foreign minister Abbas Araghchi. At the time, both the Iranian Foreign Minister and the White House said that the discussions held were constructive. The second round of Omani-mediated talks took place in Rome on April 19, 2025, again with indirect discussions between Witkoff and Araghchi. This was followed by a third high-level round in Muscat around a week later, and an expert-level meeting to develop a framework for a possible nuclear agreement, led by Michael Anton for the U.S. and by Majid Takht-Ravanchi for Iran.

The U.S. military had been building up its presence in the Middle East as the threat of war escalated. U.S. bases throughout the region accommodate approximately 50,000 American troops, as well as the biggest air force presence in the Middle East since the 2003 invasion of Iraq. As part of the peace proposals, Iran offered to build at least 19 additional reactors, suggesting that contracts for these projects could help revive the U.S. nuclear industry. Araghchi's planned speech announcing this, however, was cancelled.

On May 27, Trump said both sides were close to finalizing an agreement, with strong inspections. Araghchi stated he was unsure whether a deal was imminent, while Khamenei's advisor, Ali Shamkhani, said Trump's desired control over the Iranian nuclear program was a "fantasy". Israel reportedly threatened to preemptively attack Iranian nuclear installations, although this was denied by Benjamin Netanyahu. On May 31, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) reported that Iran had amassed a record amount of military-grade enriched uranium. On June 11, U.S. embassies in Iraq and other Arab states began to evacuate personnel in response to Iranian threats on American bases. The Houthis threatened retaliation against the United States should an attack be launched on Iran. President Trump was reportedly provided with a range of options for an attack on Iran by CENTCOM. The UK has issued a threat advisory for ships in the Persian Gulf. The IAEA declared Iran in breach of its non-proliferation obligations on June 12.

The following day, Israel launched large-scale attacks on Iran. Israel's attacks targeted Iran's top military leaders and nuclear scientists. Following the attacks, Iran pulled out and suspended nuclear talks indefinitely. The United States also carried out a series of strikes on Iranian nuclear sites and negotiations between the United States and Iran were subsequently suspended. They resumed in early 2026 after large-scale protests in Iran. Meanwhile, the U.S. military buildup in the Middle East continued as the threat of war loomed.

On February 28, 2026, the United States and Israel launched a large-scale attack on Iran. The attack included the assassination of Khamenei.