Netanyahu flying to Washington in bid to influence Iran talks, official says

Lazar Berman is The Times of Israel's diplomatic reporter

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu takes part in a Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee meeting at the Knesset in Jerusalem on February 5, 2026. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu takes part in a Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee meeting at the Knesset in Jerusalem on February 5, 2026. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is flying to Washington, DC, today in an attempt to sway US nuclear talks with Tehran, an Israeli official tells The Times of Israel shortly before the premier is slated to take off.

Netanyahu, says the official, “is traveling to Washington to meet with President Trump with the aim of influencing the negotiations with Iran.”

The prime minister was initially scheduled to fly to Washington later this month, but asked to move up the meeting with Trump in a sign some interpret as anxiety over the directions US-Iran talks might take.

“Prime Minister Netanyahu believes that any agreement must not only prevent Iran from attempting to rearm itself with nuclear weapons and eliminate any possibility of uranium enrichment,” continues the official, “but also restrict ballistic missiles and ensure the cessation of support and funding for terrorism by the axis of evil.”

Senior Iranian and US officials held talks in Oman last week that both sides painted as positive.

Yesterday, Tehran floated possible concessions on its stockpile of enriched uranium, but it refuses to discuss its missile program or its support for armed militias across the Middle East.

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