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Donald Trump has said that he is still seeking a deal with Iran to prevent it from seeking a nuclear weapon following a three-hour meeting with Benjamin Netanyahu in which the Israeli leader was expected to advocate for a more forceful intervention by the US military.
Netanyahu’s sixth visit to the White House since Trump returned to office ended without any public remarks between the two leaders. The results of the hastily arranged meeting were announced by Trump in an online post.
“There was nothing definitive reached other than I insisted that negotiations with Iran continue to see whether or not a Deal can be consummated,” Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social. “If it can, I let the Prime Minister know that will be a preference. If it cannot, we will just have to see what the outcome will be.”
The US has massed forces in the Middle East threatening a major strike against Iran’s nuclear programme, as well as its leadership and military, as the White House has sought new concessions over the country’s nuclear program. Trump this week said he was considering sending another aircraft carrier to the region to join the USS Abraham Lincoln.
But Israel has called for Iran to also limit its ballistic missile program and cut support for regional allies including Hamas in Gaza and Lebanon’s Hezbollah. Netanyahu’s office before the trip had said that he “believes that any negotiations must include limiting ballistic missiles and ending support for the Iranian axis”.
Senior US and Iranian envoys met last week in Oman for talks that only addressed Iran’s nuclear program, as Tehran has said that its ballistic missile program and support for regional allies were not under discussion.
The two leaders are allies but occasionally their mutual frustration with one another has spilled into public, as Israel has sought greater US support in numerous conflicts in the region.
In his online post, Trump suggested that he was restraining Netanyahu but also said that further strikes could be a result if Iran does not agree to a new nuclear deal with the US.
“Last time Iran decided that they were better off not making a Deal, and they were hit with Midnight Hammer – That did not work well for them,” Trump said, referring to the strikes last June that targeted Iranian enrichment facilities at Natanz and Fordow. “Hopefully this time they will be more reasonable and responsible.”
Earlier, Iran’s president, Masoud Pezeshkian, had denied that the country was seeking a nuclear weapon as he acknowledged “great sorrow” after the authorities’ recent crackdown on protesters. Both the nuclear program and the crackdown were cited by Trump as reasons for the US military buildup in the region.
Pezeshkian said Iran was willing to negotiate over its nuclear programme and was “ready for any kind of verification” in relation to its insistence it is not trying to build nuclear weapons. However, the UN nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency, has been unable for months to inspect and verify Iran’s nuclear stockpile.
Pezeshkian said: “The high wall of mistrust that the United States and Europe have created through their past statements and actions does not allow these talks to reach a conclusion.
“At the same time, we are engaging with full determination in dialogue aimed at peace and stability in the region alongside our neighbouring countries.”
