Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned on Tuesday about the potential perils of a nuclear deal with Iran, ahead of taking off for Israel following his meeting the previous day with U.S. President Donald Trump at the White House.
“We agree that Iran will not have nuclear weapons. This can be done by agreement, but only if this agreement is Libyan-style: They go in, blow up the installations, dismantle all of the equipment under American supervision and carried out by America—this would be good,” he said.
“The second possibility—that will not be—is that they drag out the talks, and then there is the military option. Everyone understands this. We spoke about this at length,” he added.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi confirmed on Tuesday that his government had decided to start negotiations with Washington.
“Iran and the United States will meet in Oman on Saturday for indirect high-level talks,” he wrote on X, hours after U.S. President Donald Trump announced the discussions set to take place in Muscat, which he called direct.
Speaking in the Oval Office after meeting Netanyahu on Monday, Trump announced: “We’re having direct talks with Iran, and they’ve started. … Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon,” he stressed. “If it can be done diplomatically in a full way, the way it was done in Libya, I think that would be a good thing.”
Netanyahu on Tuesday said he and Trump also discussed the ongoing war against Hamas in Gaza.
“We are determined to eliminate Hamas, and at the same time, we are determined to return all of our hostages. The president looked at me and told the journalists who were present: ‘This man is working constantly to free the hostages.’ I hope that this shatters the lie that is being circulated to the effect that I am not working for them, that I don’t care. I do care, and I am doing it, and we will be successful,” said the Israeli premier.
Netanyahu noted that he raised Trump’s vision to relocate civilians in the Gaza Strip, insisting that Jerusalem was currently in contact with several countries talking about the possibility of absorbing Palestinians.
“This is important because in the end, this is what needs to happen,” he said.
“The third issue: Turkey. Turkey wants to establish military bases in Syria, and this endangers Israel. We oppose this and are working against it. I told President Trump, who is my friend and also a friend of [Turkish President Recep Tayyip] Erdoğan: ‘If we are in need of your help, we will discuss it with you,’” stated the prime minister.
“The fourth and last issue: the tariffs. President Trump has asked countries to reduce their trade deficits with the U.S. to zero. I told him: ‘This is not so difficult for us. We will do it.’ This is the little that we can do for the U.S. and its president, who does so much for us,” said Netanyahu.
The prime minister concluded by stressing that it was a “very warm visit,” his second in two months since Trump assumed office, adding that “there were additional things that you will hear about later.”
