by Emmitt Barry, Worthy News Washington D.C. Bureau Chief
(Worthy News) – Planned nuclear negotiations between the United States and Iran unraveled this week after Tehran demanded changes to both the format and location of the talks, U.S. and regional officials said. The meetings, initially set for Friday in Turkey, were called off after Washington rejected Iran’s insistence on moving the venue to Oman and limiting discussions to the nuclear file alone.
A senior U.S. official told Axios that Washington presented Tehran with a take-it-or-leave-it proposal and remains ready to negotiate under the original framework. Israeli officials echoed skepticism, with one senior figure saying the gaps between the sides are “very, very large.”
The collapse of the talks has renewed debate in Washington over next steps, with U.S. officials telling Reuters that President Donald Trump is again weighing military options alongside diplomacy. Iranian sources countered that U.S. leaks about the breakdown reflect Washington’s lack of seriousness.
White House envoy Steve Witkoff and presidential adviser Jared Kushner, who had arrived in the region to represent the U.S., are expected to return home after consultations with regional leaders.
Tensions escalated further after two “very aggressive” Iranian actions toward U.S. vessels in the Gulf. Iranian Revolutionary Guard gunboats attempted to board a U.S.-flagged commercial ship near the Strait of Hormuz before withdrawing, and an Iranian drone approached the USS Abraham Lincoln, where it was downed by a U.S. fighter jet, according to U.S. officials.
In Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu warned against trusting Iranian assurances during talks with Witkoff, while Senate Republicans publicly backed Trump’s hard line. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has reiterated that any agreement must also address Iran’s ballistic missile program—an outright red line for Tehran.
While officials stress the talks have not been formally canceled and could still proceed if Iran shows flexibility, U.S. and Israeli sources say no meeting is expected Friday under current conditions, leaving the region on edge as diplomacy stalls and military risks rise.
Copyright 1999-2026 Worthy News. This article was originally published on Worthy News and was reproduced with permission.
Latest News from Worthy News
Israeli President Isaac Herzog has met victims’ families and survivors of Australia’s worst-ever terrorist and antisemitic attack that killed more than a dozen people, amid mounting tensions between the two nations.
Efforts to dismantle Hamas’ military infrastructure in Gaza are moving forward according to plan, despite tensions surrounding the ceasefire, a senior official involved in U.S. President Donald Trump’s Board of Peace initiative told Ynet in an exclusive report Wednesday.
As diplomatic talks continue between Washington and Tehran, new reports from inside Iran describe intensifying repression and widespread fear among ordinary citizens.
U.S. President Donald Trump met privately with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House for nearly three hours Wednesday, with both leaders confirming that negotiations with Iran remain ongoing but no final agreement has been reached.
The Pentagon has instructed a second aircraft carrier strike group to prepare for potential deployment to the Middle East as the United States increases military readiness in response to rising tensions with Iran, according to The Wall Street Journal.
Authorities in the U.S. state of Arizona detained a suspect Tuesday in connection with the reported abduction of Nancy Guthrie, the 84-year-old mother of American television host Savannah Guthrie, as the high-profile investigation entered its ninth day.
Nine people were killed Tuesday in a mass shooting in the western Canadian province of British Columbia, and at least 27 others were injured, authorities confirmed late Tuesday, marking one of the deadliest attacks in Canada in recent years.