U.S. President Donald Trump’s special envoy to the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, will not participate in high-level diplomatic talks scheduled for Friday in Geneva between Iran and key European stakeholders, the White House confirmed on Thursday.
The meeting, which will bring together diplomats from the United Kingdom, France, and Germany alongside Iranian officials, aims to explore avenues for de-escalating rising tensions between Tehran and Jerusalem. However, the absence of the U.S. envoy underscores Washington’s continued preference for a unilateral diplomatic path distinct from European-led multilateral forums.
“This is a European-led initiative,” a senior White House official stated. “The President fully supports efforts by our allies that could encourage Iran to accept his framework for a stronger, more enforceable deal.”
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt clarified that Witkoff’s schedule “does not include participation” in the Geneva dialogue. She added that the United States has maintained its own direct and indirect communication channels with Tehran.
“We’ve engaged in six rounds of negotiations with Iran previously—some direct, others via intermediaries. Those exchanges are ongoing, though presently limited to correspondence,” Leavitt said.
The Geneva talks were initially framed as part of a broader European initiative to revive diplomacy around Iran’s nuclear program. However, regional dynamics have sharply deteriorated following Israel’s large-scale aerial assault on Iranian military and nuclear sites on June 13, complicating international efforts to resume negotiations.
President Trump has reiterated his willingness to reach a new accord with Iran, but only under more rigorous conditions than the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), which he withdrew from during his first term.
