Iran’s foreign ministry announced on Sunday that it has called off the sixth round of nuclear talks with the United States, describing any further negotiations as “meaningless” in the aftermath of Israel’s strikes on Iranian facilities. The talks had been set to resume in Muscat, Oman, after five rounds of indirect diplomacy aimed at restoring the 2015 nuclear deal, but Tehran withdrew at the last moment. Spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei told reporters that Iran cannot sit down across from Washington when Israel carries out attacks on its soil and that any conversation under these conditions would serve no purpose.
Baghaei said that Israel’s recent air campaign struck critical sites at the Natanz enrichment plant and other nuclear infrastructure, inflicting heavy damage and killing key figures in the Revolutionary Guard Corps. He added that the United States shares responsibility because it knew of the operation in advance and failed to stop its ally from targeting sovereign Iranian territory. Iran’s abrupt exit marks a dramatic end to months of backchannel efforts led by Oman, which had earned trust in both capitals as a neutral host.
Omani Foreign Minister Badr Albusaidi confirmed that Muscat had prepared its palace for the weekend meeting and welcomed delegations from Tehran and Washington. He had reported modest gains after talks in Rome but said the sides still had work to do. Now he expressed regret that diplomacy fell apart at a moment when many in the region hoped for a thaw. Albusaidi stressed that Oman remains ready to mediate, though he warned that rebuilding trust will require months, if not years, of dialogue without military overtones.
The cancellation sent shockwaves through global markets on Monday. Brent crude jumped more than ten percent in early trading as investors feared a full‑blown conflict in the Gulf. Traders cited Iran’s vow of revenge and its promise of new missile launches against Israeli targets. At home, Tehran’s leaders framed the walk‑out as a principled stand. Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei praised the decision in a televised address. He said that Iran will never negotiate from weakness and that it will expand its right to enrich uranium at any level it finds necessary to protect national security.
Meanwhile, in Washington, the Trump administration scrambled to manage the fallout. President Trump has said repeatedly that he wants a better deal than the old accord and that he offered Iran a “second chance” before the strikes began. He maintained that he did not order the Israeli operation, even as some aides acknowledged they had been informed of it. On Sunday evening, he told ABC News that Iran “blew it” by walking away just as they stood on the brink of a new agreement. He also claimed that Iranian officials reached out to him directly to plead for talks, a statement that Tehran has not confirmed.
Analysts warn that the breakdown may harden positions on both sides and increase the risk of a wider war. They note that Israel has shown it can strike deep inside Iran with hundreds of precision bombs, while Iran has already fired missiles into Israeli airspace for the first time in years. Arab states that once hesitated to back either power now face a choice between supporting a nuclear Iran or standing by the US alliance. They say that any fresh hostilities could send oil prices soaring and disrupt shipping lanes in the Strait of Hormuz.
As of today, neither Iran nor the United States has set a new date for talks. Oman’s palace remains on standby, but diplomats say that Iran will demand guarantees that no further attacks will take place. They also expect Iran to press for lifting all sanctions before it will return to the table. With tempers high and trust shattered, the future of the nuclear talks now looks bleak. At this point, many observers conclude that political wounds run so deep that finding common ground will require a major shift in strategy from both sides.
