Latest news with #USIsraelRelations
Asharq Al-Awsat
5 days ago
- General
- Asharq Al-Awsat
Trump Says Warned Netanyahu Against Striking Iran
US President Donald Trump said Wednesday he had told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to hold off striking Iran, saying it would be "inappropriate" amid talks on a nuclear deal. "Well, I'd like to be honest, yes I did," Trump said when asked if he had told Netanyahu in a call last week not to take any action that could disrupt Washington's talks with Tehran. Pressed on what he told the Israeli premier, Trump replied: "I just said I don't think it's appropriate, we're having very good discussions with them." He added: "I told him this would be inappropriate to do right now because we're very close to a solution. "I think they want to make a deal, and if we can make a deal, save a lot of lives." Tehran and Washington have in recent weeks held five rounds of talks focused on the issue -- their highest-level contact since the US in 2018 withdrew from the 2015 nuclear deal during Trump's first term. Iran said earlier Wednesday it may consider allowing US inspectors with the United Nations nuclear watchdog to inspect its facilities if a deal is reached with the United States. But Israel has repeatedly threatened military action against arch-enemy Iran and US media reports last week said Israel was making preparations to strike Iranian nuclear sites despite the ongoing US-Iran talks. Trump has not ruled out military action but said he wants space to make a deal first and has also said that Israel, and not the United States, would take the lead in any such strikes. Iran has long been accused by Western powers of seeking to develop nuclear weapons, a claim Tehran has consistently denied, insisting its nuclear program is solely for peaceful, civilian purposes.
Al Arabiya
5 days ago
- Business
- Al Arabiya
Trump says he told Netanyahu not to strike Iran amid nuclear talks
US President Donald Trump said Wednesday he had told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to hold off striking Iran, saying it would be 'inappropriate' amid talks on a nuclear deal. 'Well, I'd like to be honest, yes I did,' Trump said when asked if he had told Netanyahu in a call last week not to take any action that could disrupt Washington's talks with Tehran. Pressed on what he told the Israeli premier, Trump replied: 'I just said I don't think it's appropriate, we're having very good discussions with them.' He added: 'I told him this would be inappropriate to do right now because we're very close to a solution. 'I think they want to make a deal, and if we can make a deal, save a lot of lives.' Tehran and Washington have in recent weeks held five rounds of talks focused on the issue – their highest-level contact since the US in 2018 withdrew from the 2015 nuclear deal during Trump's first term. Iran said earlier Wednesday it may consider allowing US inspectors with the United Nations nuclear watchdog to inspect its facilities if a deal is reached with the United States. But Israel has repeatedly threatened military action against arch-enemy Iran and US media reports last week said Israel was making preparations to strike Iranian nuclear sites despite the ongoing US-Iran talks. Trump has not ruled out military action but said he wants space to make a deal first – and has also said that Israel, and not the United States – would take the lead in any such strikes. Iran has long been accused by Western powers of seeking to develop nuclear weapons – a claim Tehran has consistently denied, insisting its nuclear program is solely for peaceful, civilian purposes.
Al Jazeera
26-05-2025
- Politics
- Al Jazeera
Trump wants Netanyahu to be on same page on Iran: Top US official
Washington, DC – United States Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem says she delivered a message from President Donald Trump to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that the two countries should be aligned on how to approach Iran. Noem, who concluded a visit to Israel on Monday, told Fox News that her talks with Netanyahu were 'candid and direct'. Her comments come days after US and Iranian officials held their fifth round of nuclear talks in Rome. 'President Trump specifically sent me here to have a conversation with the prime minister about how those negotiations are going and how important it is that we stay united and let this process play out,' she said. On Sunday, Trump suggested that the talks were progressing well. 'We've had some very, very good talks with Iran,' the US president told reporters. 'And I don't know if I'll be telling you anything good or bad over the next two days, but I have a feeling I might be telling you something good.' Last week, CNN reported, citing unidentified US officials, that Israel was preparing for strikes against Iran's nuclear facilities, despite the US-led talks. Iran has promised to respond forcefully to any Israeli attack, and accused Netanyahu of working to undermine US diplomacy. Iranian Minister of Foreign Affairs Abbas Araghchi said last week that the Israeli prime minister is 'desperate to dictate what the US can and cannot do'. Israel has been sceptical about the nuclear negotiations, and Netanyahu has been claiming for years that Iran is on the cusp of acquiring a nuclear bomb. Israeli officials portray Iran – which backs regional groups engaged in armed struggle against Israel – as a major threat. On Monday, Noem said that the US understands that Netanyahu does not trust Iran. 'The message to the American people is: We have a president that wants peace, but also a president that will not tolerate nuclear Iran capability in the future. They will not be able to get a nuclear weapon, and this president will not allow it,' she said. 'But he also wants this prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, to be on the same page with him.' A major sticking point in the talks has been whether Iran would be allowed to enrich its own uranium. US officials have said they want Iran not just to scale back its nuclear programme, but also to completely stop enriching uranium – a position that Tehran has said is a nonstarter. Enrichment is the process of altering the uranium atom to create nuclear fuel. Iranian officials say enrichment for civilian purposes is a sovereign right that is not prohibited by the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT). Tehran denies seeking a nuclear weapon, while Israel is widely believed to have an undeclared nuclear arsenal. During his first term, in 2018, Trump nixed the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), which had seen Iran scale back its nuclear programme in exchange for the lifting of international sanctions against its economy. Since then, the US has been piling sanctions on Iran. Tehran has responded by escalating its nuclear programme. On Monday, Iran ruled out temporarily suspending uranium enrichment to secure an interim deal with the US. Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baqaei stressed that Iran is not buying time with the talks. 'We have entered the course of talks seriously and purposefully with the intention of reaching a fair agreement. We have proved our seriousness,' Baqaei was quoted as saying by the Tasnim news agency.
Al Arabiya
26-05-2025
- Politics
- Al Arabiya
US homeland security chief says had ‘candid' conversation with Netanyahu about Iran talks
US Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said on Monday she had a candid conversation with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu about the United States' negotiations with Iran. 'President Trump specifically sent me here to have a conversation with the prime minister about how those negotiations are going and how important it is that we stay united and let this process play out," Noem said during an interview with Fox News' 'Fox and Friends.' 'It was a very candid conversation.' Iranian and US delegations wrapped up a fifth round of talks in Rome last week and signs of some limited progress emerged Developing
New York Times
26-05-2025
- Politics
- New York Times
Noem Visits Israel Amid Tensions Between Trump and Netanyahu
Kristi Noem, the homeland security secretary, met with officials in Israel on Sunday and Monday as she underscored American support for Israel amid policy disagreements between the two countries. Ms. Noem met with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel and Foreign Minister Gideon Saar and attended a ceremony on Monday that commemorated two Israeli embassy aides who were killed last week in a shooting in Washington. Speaking at the ceremony, Ms. Noem said President Trump 'extends his greetings and his grief to all of you, and he stands with you as we fight this hatred in the world.' She also spoke of 'a unity among us that will help us defeat our enemies.' Israeli leaders presented her visit as proof of strong United States-Israel relations, following disagreements between Mr. Trump and Mr. Netanyahu over how best to approach Iran and its proxies in Yemen, and Mr. Trump's growing frustration with the continuation of the war in Gaza. Mr. Trump did not visit Israel during a recent tour of the Middle East, an omission interpreted as a sign of tension with Mr. Netanyahu. According to Mr. Netanyahu's office, Ms. Noem spoke in a meeting on Sunday of her 'unwavering support for the prime minister and the state of Israel.' She also expressed 'great appreciation' for Mr. Netanyahu's conduct of the war, his office said. Ms. Noem also met on Sunday with her Israeli counterpart, Itamar Ben-Gvir, the minister for national security. Mr. Ben-Gvir's office said he 'thanked his counterpart for American support for Israel and for President Trump's immigration plan,' referring to the president's proposal in February to displace Gaza's residents while the United States leads the rebuilding of the territory.
