New Delhi: US President Donald Trump had a “tense” conversation with an unhappy Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu Tuesday, CNN reported Wednesday. The phone call was first reported by US news website Axios.
Both leaders don’t see eye to eye on how to proceed with the Iran war, according to the CNN report, which said that in the hour-long conversation, Netanyahu called Trump’s delay in strikes on Iran “a mistake” and asserted for resumption of military action. The US president, on the other hand, wants to see if a deal can be reached.
According to the Axios report, a US official briefed on the conversation said Trump told the Israeli PM that mediators were drafting a “letter of intent” that both Washington and Tehran would sign to formally end the conflict and begin a 30-day negotiating period focused on issues including Iran’s nuclear programme and the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz.
Netanyahu is, however, deeply sceptical of the negotiations. According to Israeli and US officials, he favours resuming military operations in order to further degrade Iran’s military capabilities and weaken the regime by targeting critical infrastructure.
Two Israeli officials in the Axios report said the leaders sharply disagreed over the path forward. One source described Netanyahu as deeply alarmed following the conversation, saying “Bibi’s (as Netanyahu is also known) hair was on fire” after the call.
The source also said Israel’s ambassador in Washington, Yechiel Leiter, had privately conveyed concerns among Israeli officials to members of the Congress.
“Bibi is always concerned,” one official was quoted as saying.
Trump has continued to present himself as open to a negotiated settlement, even while warning that hostilities could quickly resume if diplomacy fails.
“The only question is do we go and finish it up or are they gonna be signing a document,” Trump said Wednesday during remarks at the Coast Guard Academy. “Let’s see what happens.”
Later in the day, he described the US and Iran as being “right on the borderline” between reaching an agreement and returning to war.
The president also asserted that Netanyahu “will do whatever I want him to do” regarding Iran, while stressing that the two leaders remained closely aligned despite occasional disagreements over strategy.
According to Trump, he was just an hour away from authorising new strikes on Iran before announcing on social media Monday that he would give diplomacy more time at the request of Gulf countries.
“They’re loaded to the brim. And we were all set to start,” Trump said Tuesday, referring to US warships stationed in the region.
Officials from several Gulf nations stated they were unaware of any imminent military action, CNN said in another report.
The report quoted some sources as indicating that renewed strikes were expected to begin early this week. Others, however, said military action was not anticipated until later in the week.
“I’m saying two or three days, maybe Friday, Saturday, Sunday, something, maybe early next week,” Trump said Wednesday at the White House. “A limited period of time.”
Earlier Sunday, Trump had told Netanyahu on a call that the targeted attacks on Iran would take place this week, with the effort likely named Operation Sledgehammer, only to retract the following day.
Meanwhile, diplomats from Qatar and Pakistan have circulated a revised peace proposal aimed at narrowing the remaining gaps between the two sides, according to sources quoted in the Axios report.
Iranian officials have confirmed that they are reviewing an updated proposal, though there has been little public indication that Tehran is prepared to yield. A source familiar with the talks quoted in Axios said Doha was attempting to bridge differences based on an earlier Pakistani proposal.
Iran’s Foreign Ministry said Wednesday that negotiations were continuing “based on Iran’s 14-point proposal” and confirmed that Pakistan’s interior minister had returned to Tehran to assist mediation efforts—his second visit in less than a week.
(Edited by Nida Fatima Siddiqui)
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