Trump and Netanyahu Confer as Washington Weighs Renewed Iran Strikes Amid Quiet Back-Channel Talks

President Donald Trump spoke with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu by phone on Saturday while Washington weighed whether to resume major military action against Iran. The call was reported by The Wall Street Journal, which cited sources familiar with it. It followed a White House meeting earlier in the week at which, according to the paper, Trump consulted senior military leaders about options for restarting large-scale combat operations.

The same day, Secretary of State Marco Rubio spoke to reporters at the close of the G20 Foreign Ministers' Meeting in Georgia and described a second track running alongside the military planning. Talks involving Iran, he said, had never stopped. Some conversations were direct, he said, though most ran through intermediaries. Asked how long Washington would give diplomacy before resuming operations, he declined to name a timeframe or say how far the talks had progressed. He said only that the United States would be open to a diplomatic solution, and that timing was the president's call alone.

Rubio said any settlement would have to protect American national security and address the concerns that set off the crisis, chiefly Iran's nuclear ambitions and its backing of armed groups across the region. On new strikes, he would not discuss contingency plans. He said the president preferred a peaceful outcome but that the United States could achieve military objectives if it chose to, and that Trump had not yet decided.

He also laid out the situation at sea. By his account, Iran was deliberately targeting commercial vessels carrying cargo, oil and natural gas. American naval forces, he said, were intercepting incoming drones and anti-ship missiles almost every night, though oil transit volumes remained comparable to pre-conflict levels. He warned that disruption to shipping could threaten global food security through interruptions to fuel, agricultural inputs and food commodities. On the regional front, he named Hezbollah in Lebanon, the Houthis and militias challenging the Iraqi state as Iranian proxies undermining stability.

Iran, meanwhile, offered its first on-the-record response to a diplomatic overture. Mohsen Rezaei, secretary of the Supreme National Security Council, told state broadcaster IRIB, as reported by Al Jazeera, that the American tone had shifted completely in a letter from Vice President JD Vance. He called that a good sign and said it showed Iranians had secured their victory. The letter was delivered through Qatari mediators on Sunday. The New York Times reported that it proposes direct talks led by Vance, with Iran's nuclear programme on the agenda from the start. The Wall Street Journal, citing a source, said it offered a framework for negotiations rather than specific peace terms, and was sent at Trump's direction.

Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told Al Jazeera on Saturday that Tehran had studied the letter and regarded the attempt to open dialogue as a positive step. He said an aide had travelled to Doha to consult with mediators. Al Jazeera, citing sources, reported that a meeting could take place within a week, with Doha or Istanbul under consideration as venues.

Iran's Supreme Leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, struck a harder note. He warned that any new American or Israeli attack would draw a response from Iran's armed forces that was geographically unrestricted, and that Iran would determine the time and conditions of its end. Speaking at the White House on Friday, Trump said Iran wanted to talk and kept talking, adding that the United States had time. He also said Iran was in a lot of trouble and predicted the conflict would end very soon.

What to watch is whether a Doha or Istanbul meeting materialises within the week, and whether Trump's decision on military action follows that diplomacy or moves ahead of it.