Trump Says He Pressed Netanyahu to Keep Iran Nuclear Talks Alive After Private White House Meeting

Benjamin Netanyahu spent nearly three hours inside the White House on Wednesday, but almost none of it was visible. The Israeli prime minister went in and came out away from the cameras, and neither he nor Donald Trump took questions from reporters. What the public has is what the two sides chose to say afterward.

Trump spoke first, in a post on his social media site. He called it "a very good meeting" and said nothing definitive had been reached, apart from one point: he had insisted that negotiations with Iran continue, to see whether a deal can be completed. If one can, he said, he told Netanyahu it would be his preference. If not, the US would have to see what the outcome would be. He added that last time Iran decided it was better off without a deal and was hit by US air strikes, and said he hoped Tehran would be more reasonable and responsible this time.

Netanyahu's office described the talks as covering Iran negotiations, developments in Gaza and the wider region, and said the two leaders agreed to keep up their close co-ordination and relationship. Trump's post also mentioned Gaza, saying they discussed the tremendous progress being made there and in the region generally. It was Netanyahu's seventh visit during Trump's second term.

The meeting came as Washington and Tehran are projecting cautious optimism following indirect talks in Oman on Friday about how to approach negotiations over Iran's nuclear programme. After reaching an agreement with Iran on Tuesday, Trump said Iran would be foolish not to make a deal. He said the US took out Iran's nuclear power last time and would have to see whether to take out more this time. His terms, he said: no nuclear weapons, no missiles.

Israel wants more built into the talks. Before the meeting, Netanyahu's office said he wanted limits on Tehran's ballistic missile programme and on its support for militant groups such as Hamas and Hezbollah. On Tuesday Netanyahu said he would present the president with Israel's outlook on the principles of the negotiations, which he said matter not only to Israel but to anyone who wants peace and security in the Middle East. Israel has long demanded that Iran stop all uranium enrichment, scale back its missiles and cut ties to militant groups. Iran has always rejected this, saying it would accept only some limits on its nuclear programme in return for sanctions relief.

How much sway Netanyahu has over Trump's Iran approach is unclear. Trump first threatened military action over Tehran's crackdown on nationwide protests in January, then shifted in recent weeks to a pressure campaign aimed at getting a nuclear deal. Washington has also reinforced its military presence in the region with an aircraft carrier, guided-missile destroyers, air defence assets and more.

The backdrop is the 12-day war between Israel and Iran in June, which Iran is still recovering from. The air strikes, including US bombing of several Iranian nuclear sites, killed nearly 1,000 people in Iran and almost 40 in Israel. Trump has repeatedly said the strikes obliterated Iran's nuclear capabilities, but the extent of the damage remains unclear. Recent satellite photos have captured activity at nuclear sites, raising concern that Tehran may be trying to salvage or assess what is left.

Arab and Islamic countries, including Turkey and Qatar, have urged both sides to show restraint, warning that any strike or retaliation could destabilise a region already strained by the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza.

Next week Trump plans to hold the first meeting of his Board of Peace. It was first framed as a body to oversee next steps of the US-brokered Gaza ceasefire plan, but has grown to reflect his ambition to resolve other global crises. Whether the indirect Iran talks advance, and what that board does, are the next things to watch.