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Trump warns Israel not to endanger nuclear talks as Netanyahu threatens Iran strike

US President Trump reportedly warned Prime Minister Netanyahu not to do anything which could endanger ongoing negotiations with Iran, while the Israeli premier privately warned Trump he intends to strike Iranian nuclear facilities.

By David Rosenberg, World Israel News

US President Donald Trump warned Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu recently not to undertake any actions which could torpedo ongoing nuclear talks with Iran, while Netanyahu threatened to strike Iranian nuclear facilities in the near future, according to multiple reports.

On Tuesday, the US news website Axios cited two sources, including a White House official, who said that Trump pressed Netanyahu during a telephone call last week not to take any action that could jeopardize the nuclear talks with Iran.

The US and Iranian delegations held their fifth round of talks in Italy last Friday, with Trump hinting to reporters of a possible breakthrough in the coming days, touting “real progress” in negotiations.

A day before the latest round of negotiations, Trump told Netanyahu that he “doesn’t want anything to impede” the Iran talks, a White House official said.

Trump, the official said, “doesn’t want [Netanyahu] to antagonize at a time when he is trying to solve problems.”

The president added that “the other option” – referring to military strikes – remains available should negotiations fail, but only after diplomatic options have been exhausted.

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However, Netanyahu has in private talks with US officials, including Trump, threatened to launch airstrikes against Iranian nuclear facilities, The New York Times reported on Wednesday morning.

According to the report, the White House has emphasized its desire to give negotiations time to play out before military action is taken, with the understanding that should the talks fail, the US would join Israel in bombing Iran’s nuclear facilities.

US military intelligence estimates that should Israel strike Iran on its own, the damage to Iran’s nuclear program would be limited, setting it back by only a matter of months. Israel, however, is more optimistic in its projections, which show the IDF could severely harm Iran’s uranium enrichment operations and set back its nuclear program by years.

The Trump administration is reportedly willing to reach an interim agreement with Iran, buying time for a comprehensive deal at some later date.

This despite Iran’s refusal thus far to agree to halt all uranium enrichment operations – a key demand of the Trump administration.

Israel fears that an agreement, including an interim deal, which falls short of mandating the total suspension of Iran’s nuclear program and dismantling of key facilities will serve merely as a fig leaf for Iran’s continued clandestine efforts to achieve nuclear weapons capabilities.

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The key dispute between the Netanyahu government and the Trump administration centers around the former’s concern that Iran’s current vulnerability will not last, and that the window of opportunity for a strike may soon be closing a – a view not held by the US.

In particular, Jerusalem fears that the damage caused to Iran’s air defense network during Israeli retaliatory strikes last September – leaving the Islamic republic open to additional airstrikes – will soon be repaired.

Furthermore, Israel is concerned that Hezbollah – an Iranian proxy which suffered major losses to its senior leadership last year – may regain its operational capability in the near future, enabling it to retaliate on a large scale against Israel in the even of an air campaign targeting Iran’s nuclear facilities.

Netanyahu’s office issued a statement on Wednesday morning rejecting the Times report, calling it “Fake news.”