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Wednesday, May 20, 2026
New Iran framework sparks concern from Netanyahu in tense call with Trump — report
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on GoogleNava Freiberg is The Times of Israel's deputy diplomatic correspondent.
US President Donald Trump and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held a tense phone call last night about new mediation efforts by several Arab and Muslim states to reach a deal between the US and Iran, the Axios news site reports, citing an American source and two Israeli sources familiar with the call.
The emerging proposal – reportedly drafted by Qatar and Pakistan with input from regional mediators Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Egypt – would see Washington and Tehran sign a “letter of intent” that would officially end the war and open 30 days of negotiations on issues including reopening the Strait of Hormuz and limiting Iran’s nuclear program, a US source involved in the phone call tells the news outlet.
The two leaders disagreed on the path forward during the call, as Netanyahu was highly skeptical of the framework, believing the US should continue applying military pressure on Iran to further weaken the regime by destroying its critical infrastructure, two Israeli sources tell Axios.
The US source says that Netanyahu’s “hair was on fire after the call,” though Israeli sources note that Netanyahu “is always concerned” about how negotiations with Iran will go, even during stages that previously failed.
The Prime Minister’s Office and the White House declined to comment to Axios on the report.
Mediators have been working over the last several days to bridge gaps on the last Pakistani proposal, and Qatar recently presented the US and Iran with a new draft, two Arab sources and an Israeli source tell Axios, though a fourth Qatari source says there is no separate draft from Qatar and Doha is only aiming to improve the Pakistani draft.
The current efforts aim to get stronger commitments from the Iranians regarding limiting their nuclear program and better guarantees from the US to gradually unfreeze Iranian funds kept abroad, according to the report.
Qatar sent a delegation to Tehran earlier this week for talks on the latest draft, as did Pakistan, the report adds.
The Times of Israel Community.