Trump and Netanyahu Discuss Options as Washington Weighs Renewed Iran Strikes; Rubio Says Talks Continue

On Saturday, President Donald Trump spoke by telephone with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu while Washington weighed whether to renew military action against Iran. The call was reported by The Wall Street Journal, which cited sources familiar with it. The details of what the two leaders said have not been made public.

The call followed a White House meeting earlier in the week. According to the same newspaper, Trump consulted senior military leaders at that meeting about strategic options for resuming major combat operations. Nothing in the reporting says a decision came out of either the meeting or the call.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio spoke to reporters at the close of the G20 Foreign Ministers' Meeting in Georgia, and he described a diplomatic track that was still running. "There are multiple talks; talks have actually never stopped," he said, adding that conversations were active, in some cases direct but often conducted through intermediaries.

Pressed on how long Washington intended to give diplomacy before possibly resuming operations, Rubio would not name a date. He said the timing belonged to the President alone. He also refused to say whether a final agreement was near. "I'm not gonna characterise either the progress on those talks or any timeframe on it," he told reporters, adding that if there is a diplomatic solution, the United States would be open to it.

Rubio said any settlement would have to protect American national security interests and address the concerns that set off the crisis. He named two in particular: Iran's nuclear ambitions and its support for regional armed groups, which he accused of destabilising the wider Middle East.

Asked about fresh strikes, he declined to discuss specific contingency plans. He said Trump preferred a peaceful resolution but that the administration was confident in its military capabilities. "We can achieve military objectives if we seek to. He hasn't made a decision," Rubio said.

Much of his criticism of Tehran concerned the sea. Rubio accused Iran of deliberately targeting commercial vessels carrying cargo, oil and natural gas, a threat he said reaches economies well beyond the immediate conflict zone. He said American naval forces were intercepting incoming drones and anti-ship missiles almost every night. Even so, he noted, petroleum transit volumes remained comparable to levels before the conflict, though the ships still require protection.

He also warned about food. Disruptions to maritime trade, he said, could interrupt supplies of fuel, agricultural inputs and food commodities, with far-reaching consequences.

The picture is of a government pursuing two tracks at once: talks that Rubio says never stopped, and military planning that the Journal says is under active discussion. What to watch is whether the diplomacy produces a deal that meets Washington's stated concerns, or whether Trump decides to resume strikes.