US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hold a press conference after meeting at President Trump’s Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach, Florida, on December 29, 2025.
Jonathan Ernst | Reuters
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will meet U.S. President Donald Trump in Washington on Wednesday to discuss U.S.-Iranian talks, his office said Saturday, but the talks came a day after Iran’s foreign minister threatened U.S. military bases in the region.
“The prime minister believes that all negotiations should include limits on ballistic missiles and an end to support for the Iranian axis,” Netanyahu said in a short statement, referring to Iran’s support for extremist groups including Lebanon’s Hezbollah and the Palestinian Authority’s Hamas. President Trump and Prime Minister Netanyahu last met in December.
There was no immediate comment from the White House.
The United States and the Islamic Republic of Iran held indirect talks in Oman on Friday that appeared to be a return to the starting point on how to approach the debate over Iran’s nuclear program.
President Trump called the meeting “very good” and said more talks were planned for early next week. Washington was represented by Steve Witkoff, special envoy to the Middle East, and Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner.
President Trump has repeatedly threatened to use force to force Iran to reach an agreement on its nuclear program after sending the aircraft carrier Abraham Lincoln and other warships to Iran amid Tehran’s crackdown on nationwide protests that has left thousands dead.
Gulf Arab states are concerned that the attack could spark a regional war, with memories of June’s 12-day Israel-Iran war still fresh in their minds.
The United States on Friday brought a top Middle East military commander to the table for the first time in negotiations with Iran. Adm. Brad Cooper, commander of the military’s Central Command, visited the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln with Witkoff and Kushner on Saturday, the command said in a statement.
“Nuclear talks and the resolution of major issues must take place in a calm atmosphere, without tension or intimidation,” Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told reporters on Friday. He said the diplomats would return to the capital, suggesting this round of negotiations was over.
On Saturday, Aragushi told Al Jazeera Satellite News Network that if the United States attacked Iran, Iran would have to attack American military bases in the region or retaliate because it does not have the capability to attack the United States.
He said there was a “very deep sense of mistrust” following what happened during the previous meeting, when the US bombed Iran’s nuclear facilities during last year’s Israel-Iran war.
Araghchi also said that the “missile issue” and other defense issues “are by no means negotiable now or in the future.”
The Iranian government insists these talks are only about its nuclear program.
However, Al Jazeera reported that diplomats from Egypt, Turkey and Qatar offered Iran a proposal in which Tehran would halt enrichment for three years, ship highly enriched uranium out of the country and promise not to “start using ballistic missiles.”
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Wednesday that talks must include all of these issues.
Israel, a close ally of the United States, believes Iran is pursuing nuclear weapons and wants to eliminate its program, but Iran insists its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes. Israel also calls for an end to Iran’s ballistic missile program and support for regional armed groups.
Speaking at a forum in Qatar on Saturday, Aragushi accused Israel of destabilizing the region by “violating sovereignty, assassinating government officials, carrying out terrorist activities and expanding its influence in multiple theaters.” He criticized Israel’s treatment of Palestinians and called for “comprehensive and targeted sanctions against Israel, including an immediate arms embargo.”
