The diplomatic effort to prevent war with Iran collapsed in Geneva when Trump's two most trusted envoys - Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner - returned empty-handed, convincing the President that Tehran was stalling while covertly preparing for confrontation, as "Hvylya" reports, citing TIME.

Witkoff and Kushner had been tasked with securing an agreement not unlike the Iranian nuclear accord forged by Barack Obama - the very deal Trump had excoriated and withdrawn from during his first term. Their mandate was straightforward: get Iran to abandon its nuclear ambitions through negotiation. Iran refused to entertain discussions on two issues that Western officials considered central: its ballistic-missile program and its support for regional proxy forces, including Hezbollah and Hamas.

When the envoys returned, Trump concluded the Iranians were playing for time. One senior U.S. official described Tehran's approach as "games, tricks, and stall tactics." The diplomatic failure came after a 60-day framework set up in early 2025 had already collapsed. Israeli officials say that initial deadline was strategic - designed to demonstrate that diplomacy was futile. "It proved to Trump that we have nobody to talk to," one Israeli official said. "It was a ruse."

Meanwhile, the Islamic Republic was violently suppressing antigovernment protests across the country. Trump saw an opening, told demonstrators that "help is on the way," and warned Tehran a military response was on the table. But he took no action as Iranian authorities shut down the internet and slaughtered as many as 30,000 people.

Two developments then accelerated the shift toward confrontation, according to Trump officials familiar with the deliberations. First, an intelligence assessment indicated that Iran was preparing ballistic-missile strikes "potentially pre-emptively" against American forces in the region. Second, Netanyahu was marching toward his own military action. "We knew that there was going to be an Israeli action," Secretary of State Marco Rubio said. "We knew that would precipitate an attack against American forces." Within weeks, Operation Epic Fury was launched.

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