Mark Mazzetti

So there's been all sorts of questions about what exactly the goals of this war were.

Was it regime change?

Was it just to decimate the Iranian military or set back its nuclear program?

And what we found is that very clearly from the beginning, this was a war about regime change.

The United States and Israel wanted to topple the government in Iran and install a new pliable leader.

And Ahmadinejad was the leader they had in mind.

The plan to install Ahmadinejad is surprising for a number of reasons.

First off, he's known to most people as the hardline Iranian leader of more than a decade ago.

Someone who was famously a Holocaust denier, talked about wiping Israel off the map, was firmly in favor of accelerating Iran's nuclear program.

So all the things that this war is supposed to fight against, Ahmadinejad was for.

But actually, in recent years, he had become something of a critic of the Iranian regime, a kind of gadfly who had been under house arrest because the Iranian regime frankly hadn't trusted him.

So J.D.

Vance and a very senior delegation of Iranian officials had a marathon session on Saturday in Islamabad where they were meeting to hash out some of their biggest differences.

No one could tell what was happening in the negotiations where a lot of reporters were waiting around to find out any piece of information and there was nothing coming.

And then by Saturday night, Washington time, we get word that the talks had broken down.

Well, good morning, everybody.

And let me say a couple of notes of appreciation.

First of all, J.D.

Vance comes out and he announces that there's no deal.

We have been at it now for 21 hours, and we've had a number of substantive discussions with the Iranians.