Trump: Israel would ‘be the leader’ of strike on Iran if nuclear talks fall apart
US president adds, however, that Washington will make the decisions; Netanyahu’s cabinet secretary says PM was surprised that direct US-Iran talks are slated for coming weekend
US President Donald Trump said Wednesday that Israel would take a leading role in a potential military strike on Iran along with the US if upcoming nuclear talks don’t succeed.
The remark came two days after Trump appeared to blindside Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu by announcing alongside him at the White House that direct US-Iran talks on curbing Tehran’s nuclear program would take place this coming Saturday, a timing that Netanyahu’s cabinet secretary said Wednesday had taken Jerusalem by surprise.
Asked by reporters in the Oval Office on Wednesday whether he would use military means against Iran if the latter doesn’t agree to a nuclear deal, Trump responded: “If it requires military, we’re going to have military.”
“Israel will obviously be very much involved in that — it’ll be the leader of that,” he said, in what appeared to be the first time he’s explicitly threatened an Iranian strike by Israel, let alone one led by the Jewish state.
But he appeared to partially walk back the comment in his next breath. “But nobody leads us. We do what we want to do.”
He said the US would “absolutely” use military force against Iran if necessary, and that he has a timeline for how long the diplomatic effort would last, though he didn’t specify. Reports have said Trump is giving the process two months.
“I can’t really be specific. But when you start talks, you know if they’re going along well or not… The conclusion would be when I think they’re not going along well.”
The US president said that Saturday’s slated summit in Oman was the “start” of a process. His envoy to the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, is slated to represent the US, while Iran will be represented by its Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi. Trump has said the talks will be direct, while Iran has said they will be through a mediator.
“We have a little time, but we don’t have much time because we’re not going to let them have a nuclear weapon,” Trump said. “We’re going to let them thrive. I want them to thrive. I want Iran to be great. The only thing they can’t have is a nuclear weapon. They understand that. The people are so incredible in Iran. They’re so smart… They’re in a rough situation, rough regime… The leaders understand: I’m not asking for much. They can’t have a nuclear weapon. ”
“I was a little bit surprised because when the election was rigged, I figured that they would get the weapon, because with me, they were broke,” he claimed, citing sanctions..
Witkoff may end up holding off on traveling to Oman on Saturday if Iran refuses to hold direct talks with him in Muscat, The Washington Post reported.
US officials have been insisting that the negotiations will be direct, having argued that indirect talks aren’t as effective.
“We won’t be played for fools,” a Trump administration official was quoted as saying, arguing that what is needed to break through the deep mistrust on both sides is a “full-fledged discussion” and a “meeting of minds.”
Witkoff would even be willing to travel to Tehran if invited, two administration officials told the Post. One of the officials speculated that Trump’s decision to announce the talks alongside Netanyahu in the Oval Office on Monday was to keep the premier in check and preempt Israeli criticism.
Trump is more eager to engage in diplomacy than bombing, the officials told the Post.
Saturday surprise
Meanwhile, Cabinet Secretary Yossi Fuchs acknowledged that Netanyahu was caught off guard by Trump’s announcement of the direct talks this weekend.
Speaking with the Kol Berama radio station, Fuchs insisted that Netanyahu had known in advance about the planned US negotiations with Iran, but “he did not know the talks will take place on Saturday.”
“There is a close connection between the president and the prime minister. The president’s team competes over who loves Israel the most,” said Fuchs.
In a cabinet meeting Wednesday night, Netanyahu reportedly told ministers that Israel had had advance knowledge of the US talks with Iran, with Washington having asked Jerusalem what it would consider to be a good deal.
The Kan public broadcaster cited an Israeli source as saying that Netanyahu answered that a good proposal would be similar to one that led to the dismantlement of Libya’s nuclear program, and added that time for diplomacy was limited.
Netanyahu convened the cabinet to discuss his recent trips to Hungary and the United States, with a focus on the US. The premier called on Monday for the forum to convene, immediately after he finished his meeting with Trump, The Times of Israel has learned.
The Trump meeting contained a series of unwelcome surprises for Netanyahu even beyond the Iran talks, namely on the lack of immediate tariff relief and on tensions over Turkey, with Trump praising its President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, a staunch Israel critic who has close Hamas ties.
Only cabinet ministers were invited to the cabinet meeting. Security chiefs, including Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar as well as the heads of the IDF and the Mossad, were not invited, according to Hebrew media outlets. The Kan public broadcaster cited an unnamed source as asserting this was due to the diplomatic, non-security nature of the meeting.
Netanyahu also met CIA Director John Ratcliffe in Jerusalem on Wednesday, his office said, adding that Mossad chief David Barnea was also present.
Efforts to settle a dispute over Iran’s nuclear program, which it says is purely for civilian use but which Western countries see as a precursor to an atomic bomb, have ebbed and flowed for more than 20 years without resolution.
Trump withdrew from a 2015 deal between Iran and six world powers — the US, Russia, China, France, Britain and Germany — during his first term of office in 2018, and also imposed stiff sanctions. Iran responded by dropping some of its commitments to the deal, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action.
Iran, which is sworn to Israel’s destruction, denies seeking a nuclear weapon, but it has ramped up its enrichment of uranium to 60 percent purity, which has no application beyond nuclear weapons, and has obstructed international inspectors from checking its nuclear facilities.
International talks to bring both countries back to the deal have stalled.
The US issued fresh sanctions on Iran on Wednesday, with the Treasury Department saying that the measures targeting five Iran-based entities and one person based in Iran were imposed due to their support of Iran’s nuclear program with the aim of denying Tehran a nuclear weapon.
Lazar Berman contributed to this report.
The Times of Israel Community.