WASHINGTON — Iran left talks with the US without a deal to end its nuclear program shortly before President Trump launched a “massive and ongoing operation” against the regime. 

The negotiations in Geneva were inconclusive, with Trump’s self-imposed deadline to reach an agreement on the future of Tehran’s nuclear program ticking down as soon as the weekend approached.

Nevertheless, Iran had said technical talks had been set to resume Monday in Switzerland. 

“They’ve rejected every opportunity to renounce their nuclear ambitions, and we can’t take it anymore,” Trump said in his speech announcing the attack that he posted on Truth Social.

“Instead, they attempted to rebuild their nuclear program and to continue developing the long range missiles that can now threaten our very good friends and allies in Europe, our troops stationed overseas, and could soon reach the American homeland.”

The initial strikes showed the huge force and capabilities arrayed against Iran. US and Israeli jets carried out dozens of strikes, with large explosions visible in Tehran near the presidential palace, with Iran firing back at US assets in neighboring countries.

With diplomacy failing to achieve US ends of securing Iran’s commitment to end its nuclear and missile program, Trump continued to amass military assets throughout the week — with ships moving into position and hundreds of military aircraft now gathered within range of Iran.

Trump had said he’d prefer a deal, but all options are on the table militarily.

Thursday’s meeting took place exactly one week after Trump told a meeting of his Board of Peace in Washington that he would decide whether to hit the theocratic regime “over the next, probably, 10 days.”

Under deadline pressure, all sides described progress after more than six hours of discussions in Geneva — with Iranian foreign minister Abbas Araghchi and mediator Badr Albusaidi, Oman’s foreign minister, saying follow-up “technical” talks would happen in Vienna, Austria, on Monday.

The Austrian capital is home to the United Nations nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency.

But Iranian state media said the country had rejected the central US demand that it relinquish its nuclear program — saying representatives “firmly” reiterated Iran’s “nuclear rights” while demanding the end of US sanctions.

Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Esmail Baqaei bashed the American side halfway through the day’s discussions.

“There are contradictory statements from some US officials, which raise doubts about their seriousness,” he said after a break in talks.

A starkly different tune came from the foreign minister after negotiations concluded for the day, who said that “overall, it was one of the best rounds of negotiations and one of the most serious and longest.”

Who currently holds power in Iran’s political leadership is unclear amid reports that Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei has effectively sidelined President Masoud Pezeshkian, who took office in 2024 as a reformer. Both men were reportedly the targets of Israeli strikes Saturday.

“On some issues, understanding has now been established,” the foreign minister said. “And on some issues, it is natural that we have differences of opinion, and perhaps more than in the past, the seriousness on both sides was evident to reach a negotiated solution.”

There was no immediate response from the White House, but War Secretary Pete Hegseth and Gen. Dan Caine, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, were spotted departing the executive mansion around the time the Geneva talks wrapped up.

The US team was led by special envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, who left a morning session “disappointed,” but later felt the day’s work was “positive,” Axios reported.

The Wall Street Journal reported that Witkoff and Kushner have demanded that Iran dismantle three key nuclear sites — at Fordow, Isfahan, and Natanz — that were hit by the US this past June and turn over all of its enriched uranium to Washington.

The American side also reportedly demanded that any agreement be permanent, with none of the so-called “sunset clauses” found in the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action.

The outlet later reported that the Iranian side had rejected those demands, and it was unclear how flexible Witkoff and Kushner were willing to be.

During Tuesday night’s State of the Union address to Congress, the president claimed that Iran was “working to build missiles that will soon reach the United States of America,” among other “sinister designs.”

“We are in negotiations with them,” Trump said. “They want to make a deal but we haven’t heard those sacred words: ‘We will never have a nuclear weapon.’”

US officials have pushed to broaden the talks to include discussions of Iran’s ballistic missile program as well as the regime’s killing of thousands of protesters last month — but Tehran has refused to be drawn on those topics.

The world’s largest aircraft carrier, the USS Gerald R. Ford, and a supporting strike group left the coast of Crete Thursday morning for the Israeli coast — where the ships may be used for offensive strikes and to shield Israel from retaliatory rockets.

The Ford’s voyage was expected to take about 24 hours, putting it in range for strikes by the time markets close Friday for the weekend, which historically has been when Trump has launched military strikes.

Another American aircraft carrier, the USS Abraham Lincoln, and supporting ships are positioned in the Arabian Sea just south of Iran.

Meanwhile, 14 additional F-35s left Utah en route to the region Thursday morning — bringing the total US aircraft in the region to more than 200.

The Pentagon’s first kamikaze drone unit, known as Task Force Scorpion, has been moved into position and may be involved in an attack, Bloomberg reported.

The buildup comes despite polling indicating public unease with an attack — after Trump himself ran for president three times, blasting his predecessors for destabilizing the Middle East through military interventions.

Polls show growing support for an attack, but those in favor remain in the minority.

An Economist/YouGov poll conducted Feb 20-23 found 49% of Americans oppose attacking Iran, 24% are unsure and 27% in favor.

That’s a shift from last month when a Quinnipiac University poll released Jan. 14 found 70% were opposed, 12% weren’t sure and 18% were in favor.