Netanyahu says he urged Trump to consider ‘tighter siege’ on Iran ahead of expanded US sanctions, doubts possibility of deal with ‘those savages’

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says he discussed three possible approaches to Iran with US President Donald Trump during their July meeting in Washington — diplomacy, military action and what he describes as tightening the “siege” on Tehran — and links the third option to Washington’s newly expanded sanctions campaign, adding that he is doubtful of the possibility of a deal with “those savages” in Iran.

“I spoke with President Trump several weeks ago at the White House, in the Oval Office. We discussed three options [against Iran],” Netanyahu says in a video shared by his office from a Hebrew-language speech at an event in Jerusalem last night.

Netanyahu says he told Trump that he doubted the possibility of reaching a “good deal” with Tehran, saying: “I told him, there is one old option. Of course, you can make a deal. A good deal — we have no objection. I doubt that you can make a deal with that bunch over there, with those savages. I’m telling you: You can’t make a deal.”

“The second option” they discussed, he says, was “military action,” adding that Israel would be prepared to defend itself if attacked by Iran.

“We will not allow Iran to attack us, and if, God forbid, they attack us, they will suffer a blow beyond anything they have imagined– far stronger than anything they have suffered until now,” Netanyahu says.

The premier says he then presented Trump with a third option, “to tighten the siege” on Iran, telling him, “You decide.”

Netanyahu does not explicitly say that he proposed sanctions, but goes on to portray Washington’s newly expanded sanctions measures as an example of the pressure strategy he had discussed with Trump.

On Monday, “[Trump] reaffirmed that decision with something very, very, very powerful,” Netanyahu says, referring to Washington’s announcement of newly expanded sanctions on Iran, which the US says will target the country’s digital assets and technology, gold, aviation and shipping sectors, with secondary measures possibly affecting entities in the United Arab Emirates, Hong Kong, China, Singapore and Europe.

“What President Trump did yesterday was to tighten the siege on Iran — not by tightening the siege on Iran itself, but by tightening the siege on those who help that regime, that terrible dictatorship. That is very important,” Netanyahu says.

Trump has long favored heavy economic pressure on Tehran, having pursued “maximum pressure” sanctions during his first term.