TEHRAN — Top Iranian and American negotiators have not been in contact since at least February 28, the day the United States and Israel began an unprecedented bombing campaign against Iran while Tehran and Washington were preparing to attend a fourth round of nuclear talks, according to Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi.

Araghchi led Iran’s negotiating team, which included several of his deputies and nuclear experts. The U.S. delegation was led by Special Presidential Envoy Steve Witkoff. The same officials also took part in nuclear negotiations in 2025, another round of discussions that was cut short by U.S.-Israeli attacks ahead of a scheduled meeting.

“My last contact with Mr. Witkoff was prior to his employer’s decision to kill diplomacy with another illegal military attack on Iran,” the Iranian foreign minister wrote in a post on his X account.  

“Any claim to the contrary appears geared solely to mislead oil traders and the public,” Araghchi added.

Unverified reports suggest that Witkoff has attempted to contact Araghchi multiple times since the war began, but the Iranian foreign minister has not responded.

There is no precedent in modern history of a country being attacked in the middle of a diplomatic process twice by the other negotiating party. Following the 12-day war in June, Iran agreed to attend new nuclear negotiations with the United States only after mediation efforts by several regional countries, including Turkey, Qatar, Oman, and Saudi Arabia. The Tehran Times understands that those mediators conveyed assurances from the Trump administration that it was seeking a negotiated settlement this time. Hebrew and U.S. media outlets have reported that both rounds of discussions were used as a smokescreen.

One day before the war began, Omani Foreign Minister Badr al-Busaidi — who served as mediator and go-between — travelled to the United States to meet with Vice President J.D. Vance. In a subsequent interview with American media, al-Busaidi said the two sides had made important progress. Notably, he said Iran had agreed to remove its highly enriched uranium, meaning it would not possess the means to build nuclear weapons. He also expressed hope that the upcoming round of discussions in Vienna would produce a new nuclear agreement.

U.S. President Donald Trump has not clearly explained to the American public or to lawmakers why he decided to launch military strikes while negotiations were underway. In the early days of the war, after the United States assassinated Iran’s Leader Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei, the stated objective appeared to be the toppling of the Islamic Republic, with Trump demanding “unconditional surrender” in a social media post. As the conflict continued, however, and Iran intensified attacks on U.S. regional bases and Israel while constricting navigation through the Strait of Hormuz, Trump began outlining different goals and objectives for the war.

Among the more consistent explanations offered was that the war aimed to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons, despite Trump’s earlier claim that U.S. strikes had already “obliterated” Iran’s nuclear program during the summer. At other times, he and his spokespeople suggested he had a “good feeling” Iran was going to attack American assets in West Asia. This claim has been refuted by the Pentagon in classified briefings to lawmakers, Western media reports.  

Some analysts believe that if the costs of the war become unsustainable and the United States is eventually forced to acknowledge defeat, Trump may shift responsibility for the decision to attack Iran onto members of his cabinet, including Witkoff and his war secretary, Pete Hegseth, who has repeatedly drawn headlines since the conflict began for making bizarre statements about its course.