Rubio’s planned trip to Israel comes as Washington tries to advance indirect negotiations with Iran while continuing preparations for the possibility of military action, according to Trump administration officials.
The Associated Press reported that two Trump administration officials said Rubio intends to travel to Israel next week to update Netanyahu on the status of the U.S.-Iran nuclear talks. The officials spoke Wednesday on condition of anonymity because the travel plans had not yet been announced.
Those officials said Rubio is expected to meet Netanyahu on Feb. 28. The announcement sets up a direct U.S.-Israeli channel at a time when the administration is pressing for outcomes it links to a broader regional security agenda.
Separately, another senior U.S. official said Iran has agreed to draft a written proposal to address U.S. concerns raised during this week’s Geneva talks. The official, who was not authorized to comment publicly, spoke on condition of anonymity and did not provide a timeline for when Iran is expected to deliver the written response.
AP reported that the U.S. and Iran have recently held two rounds of indirect talks over Iran’s nuclear program. The same reporting said both sides’ public comments during this week’s talks included “muted optimism,” with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi saying that “a new window has opened” for reaching an agreement.
In the United States, Vice President JD Vance discussed the negotiations in a Tuesday interview with Fox News Channel, saying, “In some ways, it went well,” while also saying that “in other ways, it was very clear that the president has set some red lines that the Iranians are not yet willing to actually acknowledge and work through.”
Netanyahu’s last week’s visit to the White House was also linked to the Trump administration’s approach to Iran, AP reported. The Israeli prime minister visited to urge Trump to ensure that any deal on Iran’s nuclear program includes steps to neutralize Iran’s ballistic missile program and end Iran’s funding of proxy groups such as Hamas and Hezbollah.
AP also described military preparations underway alongside diplomacy. It reported that Trump is weighing whether to take military action against Tehran as the administration surges military resources to the region, and that a potential attack could “spiral into a larger conflict in the Middle East.”
As part of that broader posture, AP said the Trump administration has dispatched the USS Gerald R. Ford from the Caribbean Sea to the Middle East to join a second carrier and other warships and military assets already being built up in the region. The AP report also cited open-source tracking by the Military Air Tracking Alliance, which said dozens of U.S. fighter jets—including F-35s, F-22s and F-16s—left bases in the U.S. and Europe in recent days to head to the Middle East.
The Military Air Tracking Alliance said it tracked more than 85 fuel tankers and over 170 cargo planes heading into the region, and said it spotted early-warning E-3 aircraft support moving to a base in Saudi Arabia, according to AP. It reported that Steffan Watkins, a researcher based in Canada and a member of the group, said the early-warning aircraft were pulled from bases in Japan, Germany and Hawaii.
In Washington, a senior U.S. official told AP that top national security officials gathered Wednesday in the White House Situation Room to discuss Iran. The official said they were briefed that the “full forces” needed to carry out potential military action are expected to be in place by mid-March, while not laying out a specific date for when Iran would deliver its next written response.