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Netanyahu signals deal ‘opportunity’ after Trump call; says strikes on Iran, Lebanon to continue
“President Trump believes there is an opportunity to leverage achievements we have attained with the US military to realize the war objectives,” Netanyahu said.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu late on Monday spoke to United States President Donald Trump, following which he said the latter sees a chance for a deal in the ongoing conflict in Middle East.
“Earlier today, I spoke with our friend President Trump. President Trump believes there is an opportunity to leverage the tremendous achievements we have attained with the US military to realize the war objectives in the agreement,” Netanyahu said in a video message posted to his official X account. He further asserted that the agreement must “safeguard our (US and Israel's) vital interests.”
However, the Israeli PM also vowed to continue attacks on Iran and Lebanon, while claiming that “severe blows” had been dealt to Tehran's nuclear programme and Hezbollah.
“At the same time, we continue to strike both in Iran and in Lebanon. We are crushing the missile program and the nuclear program, and continuing to inflict severe blows on Hezbollah,” Netanyahu said, adding that Israel had “eliminated two more nuclear scientists” in the past few days.
Trump's five-day pause on strikes on energy sites
Netanyahu's call with Trump came after the latter said US and Israel would pause strikes on Iran's energy infrastructure for five days. Trump, in a post on Truth Social, also alleged that US and Iran “have had, over the last two days, very good and productive conversations regarding a complete and total resolution of our hostilities in the Middle East.”
However, Trump repeated Washington’s key objectives, placing the focus firmly on Iran’s nuclear programme. “We want to see no nuclear bomb, no nuclear weapon, not even close to it, low key on the missiles, we want to see peace in the Middle East,” he said in an interview with Fox News.
However, Iran’s foreign ministry dismissed Trump's remarks, denying that any talks were underway. In response to this, Trump said he was “not sure what they are referring to” and alleged that Iran “wants to make a deal badly.”
