Trump caught Israel ‘by surprise’; Netanyahu says Israel not party to Iran deal

Trump’s announcement reportedly caught Israel’s political and military leadership by surprise, as they received no advance notice from the United States. Iran denies deal reached.

By Vered Weiss, World Israel News

A senior Israeli official told Channel 12 News that Jerusalem had not been notified of any finalized agreement between Washington and Tehran, seemingly contradicting President Donald Trump’s assertion that a deal with the Islamic Republic was close to completion.

The official said, “To the best of our knowledge, Mojtaba Khamenei has not yet approved the agreement, and we are not aware of any finalized framework document.”

Shortly after Trump’s announcement, the Israeli Prime Minister’s Office released a statement lauding an apparent commitment to nuclear restrictions.

“Although Israel is not a party to the memorandum of understanding, the prime minister expressed his appreciation for President Trump’s commitment that the final agreement at the conclusion of negotiations will include the removal of enriched material, the dismantling of enrichment infrastructure, restrictions on missile production, and an end to Iran’s support for its terror proxies in the region,” the statement said.

According to the present proposal, Iran’s nuclear program will not be discussed in the first phase but during a later period, after the initial ceasefire and its conditions are reached.

Earlier, Trump announced on Truth Social that he was calling off scheduled military action against Iran.

“Based on the fact that discussions with the Islamic Republic of Iran have been brought to the highest level of Iranian leadership and approved, I have, as President of the United States of America, cancelled the scheduled strikes and bombings against Iran this evening,” Trump wrote.

However, Iran’s semi-official Fars news agency cited a source close to Iran’s negotiating team as saying Tehran has not approved any text for an initial memorandum of understanding with the United States.

Channel 12 also reported that Netanyahu’s situation assessment meeting was dispersed shortly after it began because of a “diplomatic call.”

A source familiar with the details said Netanyahu was expecting to speak with Trump.

The developments came as discussions continued over a memorandum of understanding that would extend a fragile ceasefire currently in place and lead to subsequent talks on Iran’s nuclear program.

Axios reported that key gaps between the sides “were narrowed” during talks in Tehran between Qatari diplomat Ali Al-Thawadi and Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi.

The United States launched two days of retaliatory strikes on Iranian military and radar sites after Tehran downed an American Apache helicopter. Iran later fired ballistic missiles and drones at U.S. assets in Bahrain, Kuwait, and Jordan.