The April 12, 2026, collapse of US-Iran talks in Islamabad, Pakistan, could open the door to the perils of mutually assured devastation. This differs from the logic of mutually assured destruction, or MAD, which kept the United States and the Soviet Union from using nuclear weapons during the Cold War. Fearing Armageddon, Moscow and Washington chose détente over a potential cataclysm. Paradoxically, the perils of mutually assured destruction opened the door to diplomacy.