Peter Baker -- April 24, 2026
Sixth round of negotiations breaks down over enrichment cap; Pentagon told to update strike packages within 72 hours.
ISLAMABAD — Nuclear talks between the United States and Iran collapsed Wednesday after Iranian negotiators walked out of the Pakistani Foreign Ministry compound, prompting President Donald Trump to order the Pentagon to review military options against Iranian nuclear facilities, U.S. and Pakistani officials confirmed.
The breakdown came on the fourth day of the sixth round of indirect negotiations, mediated by Pakistani Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar. According to two officials briefed on the proceedings, talks ruptured over Washington's demand that Tehran cap uranium enrichment at 3.67 percent and accept continuous IAEA monitoring at the Fordow and Natanz sites — terms Iran's lead negotiator, Deputy Foreign Minister Majid Takht-Ravanchi, rejected as "a return to surrender diplomacy."
"The American side presented an ultimatum, not a proposal," Takht-Ravanchi told reporters before boarding a flight back to Tehran. "Iran will not dismantle a peaceful program under the threat of bombs."
Secretary of State Marco Rubio, speaking from the U.S. Embassy in Islamabad, said the United States had offered phased sanctions relief and guaranteed Iranian commercial transit through the Strait of Hormuz in exchange for verifiable enrichment limits. "We came here in good faith following the President's ceasefire extension. Tehran chose escalation over resolution," Rubio said.
Within hours, Trump convened a National Security Council meeting at the White House and directed Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to deliver updated strike options within 72 hours, according to a senior administration official. The President wrote on Truth Social that "Iran had its chance" and that the late-April ceasefire "cannot be extended indefinitely while they stall."
Markets reacted sharply. Brent crude jumped 8.4 percent to $112 a barrel in after-hours trading, and the Pentagon ordered the USS Gerald R. Ford carrier strike group to reposition from the Arabian Sea toward the Gulf of Oman. Lloyd's of London suspended new war-risk underwriting for tankers transiting Hormuz, where shipping volumes remain at roughly 40 percent of pre-conflict levels.
Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif urged both sides to return to the table, warning that "another military phase would be catastrophic for the region and the world economy."