There will be a high-level meeting in Washington as the U.S. and Iran work through a fresh round of indirect diplomacy over Tehran’s nuclear program, with Israel pushing for a broader agenda than nuclear limits alone. Netanyahu’s office said Saturday that the Israeli prime minister will meet Donald Trump in Washington on Wednesday to discuss the U.S. talks with Iran.
Netanyahu’s office said negotiations must include “limiting the ballistic missiles” and “ending support for the Iranian axis,” referring to Tehran’s support for militant groups including Hezbollah in Lebanon and Hamas in the Palestinian territories. The office gave no immediate details on the talks’ specific schedule or negotiating positions beyond those conditions. There was no immediate comment from the White House, the Associated Press reported.
The U.S. and Iran held indirect talks on Friday in Oman, with the discussions appearing to return “to the starting point” on how to approach negotiations over Iran’s nuclear program. Trump described the talks as “very good” and said more are planned for early next week, according to the report. Washington sent Middle East special envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law, to the discussions.
For the first time in negotiations with Iran, the U.S. brought its top military commander in the Middle East into the process, the AP said. U.S. Navy Adm. Brad Cooper, head of the military’s Central Command, visited the USS Abraham Lincoln on Saturday alongside Witkoff and Kushner, according to a statement from the command. The report also said Trump has repeatedly threatened to use force to compel Iran to reach a nuclear deal, and that his administration sent the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln and other warships to the region amid unrest in Iran.
Gulf Arab nations have raised concern that an attack could spark a wider regional war, with memories fresh of a 12-day Israel-Iran war in June, the report said. In this round, the AP described both sides as calibrating the scope of what “the main issues” should cover, while signaling that threats and military risk remain close to the diplomatic track.
Araghchi told journalists on Friday that nuclear talks and resolution of “the main issues must take place in a calm atmosphere, without tension and without threats,” the AP reported. He said diplomats would return to their capitals, signaling the round of negotiations was over. On Saturday, speaking to Al Jazeera, Araghchi said that if the U.S. attacks Iran, Iran does not have the ability to strike the U.S. homeland and therefore would instead “have to attack or retaliate against U.S. bases in the region.”
Araghchi also said there is “very, very deep distrust” after what happened during the previous talks, when the U.S. bombed Iranian nuclear sites during last year’s Israel-Iran war. He added that the “missile issue” and other defense matters are “in no way negotiable, neither now nor at any time in the future.” Tehran has maintained that talks should focus only on Iran’s nuclear program, according to the report.
The AP said Israel believes Iran is pursuing a nuclear weapon and wants the program scrapped, while Iran insists its atomic plans are for peaceful purposes. Israel also wants a halt to Iran’s ballistic missile program and its support for militant groups in the region. U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio told Wednesday that the talks need to include those issues. The report cited Al Jazeera in saying diplomats from Egypt, Turkey and Qatar offered Iran a proposal under which Tehran would halt enrichment for three years, send its highly enriched uranium out of the country, and pledge “not to initiate the use of ballistic missiles.”
Araghchi, speaking at a forum in Qatar on Saturday, accused Israel of destabilizing the region, saying that it “breaches sovereignties, it assassinates official dignitaries, it conducts terrorist operations, it expands its reach in multiple theaters.” He criticized Israel’s treatment of Palestinians and called for “comprehensive and targeted sanctions against Israel, including an immediate arms embargo.”