GENEVA — Jared Kushner held a meeting with Iranian negotiators in Geneva in February. The U.S. and Israel launched a series of strikes against Iran hours after Kushner and Witkoff reported to Trump.

Kushner and Witkoff told Trump that the Iranians had refused to capitulate. Neither Jared Kushner nor Steve Witkoff brought a technical adviser to the talks with Iranian negotiators.

"The Iranians come to you with a proposal. What does it actually mean? How much does it actually set them back—two months or two years? What are the work-arounds? For them not to have technical advisers there is just total malpractice," a former White House official said.

"You can tell by what Kushner and Witkoff are saying that they don’t understand a lot of the technical issues," Kelsey Davenport said. Steve Witkoff serves as the President’s special envoy. Abbas Araghchi serves as the Iranian foreign minister. Badr Albusaidi serves as Oman’s foreign minister. Badr Albusaidi hosted the negotiations in Geneva.

The Iran discussions took place in the morning and the Ukraine talks took place in the afternoon. Kushner and Witkoff negotiated with Russian representatives about the war in Ukraine on the same day as the Iran discussions.

"Lots of tricks," Kushner told reporters. "They’re basically playing games with us all over the place, and it’s very, very slippery." "They were just trying to buy time in order to preserve whatever they could, to get past the term of President Trump," he said at a press conference.

Iran offered to suspend nuclear enrichment entirely and to dilute the enriched uranium it retained during the talks. Steve Witkoff accused the Iranians of using the Tehran Research Reactor to illegally enrich and stockpile uranium. Repeated I.A.E.A. inspections found no evidence of military use at the Tehran Research Reactor.

Rafael Grossi serves as the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency. The White House denied that a Department of Energy expert assigned to Steve Witkoff was absent from the room during the Iran talks.

Trump dispatched an armada to the Middle East during the negotiations with Iran. "We have to have a meaningful deal, otherwise bad things happen," Trump said. Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu insisted that Iran give up its stockpile of lower-grade uranium and forswear any intention of enriching uranium in the future.

Badr Albusaidi flew to Washington to try to prevent war after the Geneva proceedings. Badr Albusaidi met with Vice-President J. D. Vance in Washington. J. D. Vance opposed the conflict with Iran. Badr Albusaidi appeared on CBS and issued a plea for patience.

Israel chose to strike after American intelligence officials pinpointed the location of senior Iranian leaders. "I don’t blame them for a failed negotiation," a former White House official said. "But why so soon do you then start a war and take out the entire leadership? It just wasn’t that urgent." "They basically could have been, you know, days or weeks away from a weapon, if they would have put the effort into it," Kushner said regarding the rationale for attacking Iran.

American and Israeli forces bombed Iran’s nuclear-enrichment facilities in 2025. Donald Trump declared that Iran’s capability to enrich uranium had been obliterated following the 2025 bombings. The I.A.E.A. saw no signs of a revived weapons program in Iran since the 2025 strikes on nuclear facilities. The U.S. has ceded control of the Strait of Hormuz during the war with Iran.

The head of America’s top military-intelligence agency was fired after disputing President Trump’s assessment of Iran’s nuclear capabilities. Jared Kushner is forty-five years old. "I’ve been getting criticized for the last couple of years, by all the people who have tried and failed, for not doing this the same way that they have," he said in 2020. "If somebody was successful, I wouldn’t be dealing with this."

Why It Matters

The exclusion of technical advisers from high-stakes nuclear negotiations represents a departure from standard diplomatic protocol. Former officials described the decision as malpractice, noting that without experts to interpret proposals, the U.S. lacked the ability to assess whether Iranian concessions would meaningfully delay their nuclear program or merely provide temporary relief.

The rapid transition from diplomacy to military action reflects the volatility of the region and the stakes involved in nonproliferation efforts. With the U.S. having ceded control of the Strait of Hormuz during the subsequent conflict, the strategic consequences of the negotiations and their collapse extend beyond immediate security concerns to broader geopolitical stability and energy markets.

Timeline

In 2020, Kushner addressed criticism of his methods, stating, I’ve been getting criticized for the last couple of years, by all the people who have tried and failed, for not doing this the same way that they have. Following these operations, Donald Trump declared that Iran’s capability to enrich uranium had been obliterated.

What's New

Additional context includes research published in 2018 titled House of Cards: Unterwegs mit Jared Kushner Trumps Schwiegersohn verwechselt den Nahen Osten mit seiner Luxusimmobilie in Armageddon im Orient. Earlier research titled Do Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner have too much power? Was published in 2017.

Kushner also commented on regional governance, stating that the new governing structure in Gaza is expected to take over as demilitarization progresses. "That’s obviously looking to take over soon once we advance on the demilitarization," he said. He added, We had to both find the opening in order to put in place. "But had we not done all the pre-work before, when the opening came, nothing would have occurred."