Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is expected to meet with President Donald Trump in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday to discuss the ongoing negotiations with the Islamic Republic of Iran.
The meeting is expected to focus on Israel’s position that any deal must include limits on Iranian ballistic missiles and an end to support for Iran’s regional proxies.
The upcoming meeting will mark their seventh meeting during Trump’s second term, underscoring the continuation of a year of tensions with Iran that have necessitated close coordination between the United States and Israel.
In recent weeks, Trump ordered a significant buildup of American forces in the region, including numerous aircraft, the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier strike group, and additional warships as part of what he described as a powerful “armada” positioned to respond if Tehran refuses to negotiate.
Trump initially threatened military intervention in early January, not over stalled negotiations, but to deter the Iranian regime from harming protesters. Iran ignored the warning and proceeded to kill demonstrators in the streets, with some estimates as high as 36,000 dead. After the massacre, Trump pivoted, claiming the regime had not executed the protesters it detained and now warns that Iran’s Islamic regime will face severe “consequences if they don’t make a deal.”
United States-Iran talks concluded on Friday, with additional rounds expected. Trump described the meeting as “very good.” Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told journalists that the talks took place in “a calm atmosphere, without tension and without threats.”
Araghchi also said the “missile issue,” a key concern for Israel, is “in no way negotiable, neither now nor at any time in the future.”
He added that if the United States does attack, the regime will retaliate by striking American bases in the region.
While Special Envoy Steve Witkoff has led U.S. delegations throughout the past year, this session included President Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, known for brokering deals once thought impossible, including the agreements behind the Abraham Accords. Also attending for the first time — and in his full military dress uniform — was U.S. Navy Adm. Brad Cooper, head of Central Command (CENTCOM) and overseer of the current buildup of American assets in the Middle East, including Trump’s armada.
Ahead of the negotiations, the U.S. military said it downed an unmanned Iranian drone as it “aggressively approached” the USS Abraham Lincoln in the Arabian Sea on Tuesday.
U.S. Central Command spokesman Capt. Tim Hawkins said the Iranian Shahed-139 drone was shot down by an F-35C fighter jet from the USS Abraham Lincoln “in self-defense and to protect the aircraft carrier and personnel on board.”
Hours later, forces with Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, a U.S.-designated foreign terror organization, harassed a U.S.-flagged and crewed oil tanker, Stena Imperative, that was passing through the Strait of Hormuz. According to Hawkins, two Iranian boats and an Iranian Mohajer drone approached the American vessel “at high speeds and threatened to board the tanker.”
Taking questions prior to his sixth meeting in December with Netanyahu this term, a reporter asked Trump if he would support Israel striking Iran if the latter country continues advancing its missile or nuclear programs.
“The missiles, yes. The nuclear, fast,” Trump said. “One would be yes, absolutely, the other was, we’ll do it immediately.”
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