Iran: “US Unable to Win Our Trust” — The Diplomatic Culture Behind the Breakdown

The failed negotiations between the United States and Iran expose more than a disagreement over terms: they reveal Washington’s inability to secure the one currency that matters most in Tehran: trust.

Diplomacy may be understood as the structured practice through which states manage conflict, negotiate interests, and construct frameworks of coexistence under conditions of uncertainty (Bjola and Kornprobst, 2023). At its core lies not merely the exchange of positions, but the gradual production of trust, built through consistency and the credible alignment between words and actions. This process unfolds over time, often resisting the immediacy sought by more transactional approaches.

The collapse of the latest round of negotiations between the United States and Iran marks a familiar, if still consequential, inflection point in an already fragile diplomatic landscape. After 21 hours of talks in Islamabad—a setting that itself reflects the broader regional stakes—both sides have walked away without securing even a minimal framework for........

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