2 hours ago
4
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump met privately with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu connected Wednesday and said he'd insisted that negotiations with Iran proceed arsenic the U.S. pushes for a atomic woody with Tehran.
Netanyahu spent astir 3 hours astatine the White House, but helium entered and near retired of the presumption of reporters and helium and Trump didn't instrumentality questions. In a consequent station connected his societal media site, however, the president called it “a precise bully meeting” and said “there was thing definitive reached, different than I insisted that negotiations with Iran proceed to spot whether oregon not a Deal tin beryllium consummated.”
“If it can, I fto the Prime Minister cognize that volition beryllium a preference,” Trump wrote. “If it cannot, we volition conscionable person to spot what the result volition be.”
He added, “Last clip Iran decided that they were amended disconnected not making a Deal” and were deed by U.S. airstrikes.
“Hopefully this clip they volition beryllium much tenable and responsible,” Trump wrote.
In a statement, Netanyahu's bureau said the 2 leaders had discussed negotiations with Iran arsenic good arsenic developments successful Gaza and astir the portion and they had “agreed to proceed their adjacent coordination and relationship.”
Wednesday's gathering was their seventh during Trump’s 2nd word and took spot arsenic some the U.S. and Iran are projecting cautious optimism aft holding indirect talks successful Oman connected Friday astir how, erstwhile again, to attack negotiations implicit Iran’s atomic program.
Trump said connected reaching an statement with Iran successful a Tuesday interrogation with Fox Business Network’s Larry Kudlow: “I deliberation they’d beryllium foolish if they didn’t. We took retired their atomic powerfulness past time, and we’ll person to spot if we instrumentality retired much this time.”
“It’s got to beryllium a bully deal,” helium said then. “No atomic weapons, nary missiles.”
Netanyahu pushes for much successful Iran talks
Netanyahu's bureau said anterior to the gathering that helium wants the U.S.-Iran talks to see limits connected Tehran's ballistic rocket programme and its enactment for militant groups specified arsenic Hamas and Hezbollah.
“I volition contiguous to the president our outlook regarding the principles of these negotiations — the indispensable principles which, successful my opinion, are important not lone to Israel, but to everyone astir the satellite who wants bid and information successful the Middle East,” Netanyahu said Tuesday earlier leaving Israel.
But it remains unclear however overmuch power Netanyahu volition person implicit Trump's attack toward Iran. Trump initially threatened to instrumentality subject enactment implicit Iran’s bloody crackdown connected nationwide protests successful January, past shifted to a unit run successful caller weeks to effort to get Tehran to marque a woody implicit its atomic program.
Iran is inactive reeling from the 12-day warfare with Israel successful June. The devastating bid of airstrikes, including the U.S. bombing respective Iranian atomic sites, killed astir 1,000 radical successful Iran and astir 40 successful Israel.
Trump has said repeatedly that U.S. strikes had “obliterated” Iran's atomic capabilities, though the magnitude of harm remains unclear. Satellite photos of atomic sites person precocious captured activity, prompting interest that Iran could beryllium attempting to salvage oregon measure harm astatine the sites.
Israel has agelong called for Iran to cease each uranium enrichment, dial backmost its ballistic rocket programme and chopped ties to militant groups crossed the region. Iran has ever rejected those demands, saying it would lone judge immoderate limits connected its atomic programme successful instrumentality for sanctions relief.
Washington has built up subject forces successful the region, sending an craft carrier, guided-missile destroyers, aerial defence assets and much to supplement its presence. Arab and Islamic countries, including Turkey and Qatar, person been urging some sides to amusement restraint, informing that immoderate onslaught oregon retaliation could person destabilizing consequences for a portion already strained by the Israel-Hamas warfare successful Gaza.
Gaza was besides a topic
In his post, Trump said helium and Netanyahu had “also discussed the tremendous advancement being made successful Gaza, and the Region successful general.”
Trump plans to clasp the archetypal gathering adjacent week of his Board of Peace, which was initially framed to oversee aboriginal steps of the U.S.-brokered Gaza ceasefire program but has taken signifier with Trump's ambitions of resolving different planetary crises.
Earlier Wednesday, Netanyahu met with Secretary of State Marco Rubio astatine Blair House, crossed the thoroughfare from the White House, and agreed to beryllium portion of the board.
On Iran, Trump said Friday that his peculiar envoy, Steve Witkoff, and son-in-law Jared Kushner had “very good” talks and much were planned this week. But the Republican president kept up the pressure, informing that if Iran did not marque a woody implicit its atomic program, “the consequences are precise steep.”
Iran's overseas minister, Abbas Araghchi, made akin comments, saying determination volition beryllium consultations connected “next steps.” He besides said the level of mistrust betwixt the 2 longtime adversaries remains a “serious situation facing the negotiations.”
He signaled that Iran would instrumentality to its presumption that it indispensable beryllium capable to enrich uranium — a large constituent of contention with Trump.
Netanyahu met with Witkoff and Kushner soon aft arriving successful Washington connected Tuesday evening and they gave him an update connected the talks held with Iran successful Oman, the premier minister's bureau said.
Araghchi said successful November that Iran was nary longer enriching uranium owed to the harm from past year’s war.
Before the war, Iran had been enriching uranium up to 60% purity, a short, method measurement distant from weapons-grade levels. The U.N. atomic watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency, had said Iran was the lone state successful the satellite to enrich to that level that was not equipped with the bomb.
Iran has been refusing requests by the IAEA to inspect the sites bombed successful the June war. Even earlier that, Iran has restricted IAEA inspections since Trump’s determination successful 2018 to unilaterally retreat the U.S. from Iran’s 2015 atomic woody with satellite powers.
___
Amiri reported from New York, Weissert from Washington.
Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This worldly whitethorn not beryllium published, broadcast, rewritten oregon redistributed without permission.
English (US) ·