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Trump Says He Told Israel’s Netanyahu Not to Act Against Iran
US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hold a joint press conference in the East Room at the White House in Washington, US, Feb/ 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Leah Millis
US President Donald Trump said on Wednesday he warned Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu last week not to take actions that could disrupt nuclear talks with Iran.
“I told him this would be inappropriate to do right now because we’re very close to a solution now,” Trump told reporters gathered in the Oval Office. “That could change at any moment.”
Israel earlier rejected a report in the New York Times that Netanyahu has been threatening to disrupt talks on a nuclear deal between the United States and Iran by striking Iran’s main nuclear enrichment facilities.
Citing officials briefed on the situation, the newspaper said Israeli officials were concerned that Trump was so eager to reach a deal with Iran that he would allow Tehran to keep its nuclear enrichment facilities, a red line for Israel.
Israel was particularly concerned about the possibility of any interim deal that would allow Iran to maintain its nuclear facilities for months or even years while a final agreement was reached, the paper reported.
US officials were concerned Israel could decide to strike Iran with little warning and said US intelligence estimated that Israel could mount an attack on Iran in as little as seven hours, the paper reported.
Netanyahu’s office issued a statement in response to the article which said simply: “Fake news.”
The New York Times said it stood by the report.
“The New York Times reporting on this matter is thorough and based on discussions with people directly familiar with the matter. We remain confident in what we published,” a spokesperson said in an email.
The paper said Netanyahu’s minister of strategic affairs, Ron Dermer, and David Barnea, head of the foreign intelligence agency Mossad, met Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff in Rome on Friday.
The two then traveled to Washington for a meeting on Monday with CIA director John Ratcliffe, before Dermer met Witkoff again on Tuesday.
One of the main sticking points in the talks between US and Iranian officials has been US insistence that Iran give up its nuclear enrichment facilities, a demand Iran rejects.
On Monday, US Homeland Secretary Kristi Noem said she had a “very candid conversation” with Netanyahu on the negotiations with Iran.
She said she told the Israeli prime minister that Trump had asked her to convey “how important it is that we stay united and let this process play out.”
Trump bypassed Israel on his trip to the Middle East this month and has made policy announcements that have shaken Israel‘s assumptions about its relations with the US.
Netanyahu has dismissed speculation about a falling out with the US administration, while Trump has also brushed off any suggestion of a break.
The post Trump Says He Told Israel’s Netanyahu Not to Act Against Iran first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Hostage Deal talks Stalled as Hamas Rejects New Israeli Framework – Report
US President Donald Trump and Qatar’s Emir Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani attend a signing ceremony in Doha, Qatar, May 14, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Brian Snyder
i24 News – i24NEWS’s diplomatic affairs correspondent, Amichai Stein, reported Sunday evening that negotiations over a potential hostage deal have hit a standstill.
According to political sources, “the negotiations are stalled, Hamas is refusing the new framework presented by Israel.”
Throughout the day, no direct negotiation meetings were held. Instead, the small security cabinet is set to convene this evening to discuss the state of the talks.
There is also speculation of a potential meeting between Qatari Emir Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani and US President Donald Trump to address the impasse and broader regional dynamics.
In parallel, Arab diplomats have reportedly issued a warning to Israel regarding its plan to construct a “humanitarian city” in Gaza. According to sources, diplomats cautioned that the initiative could harm the fragile fabric of the Abraham Accords and inflame regional tensions.
The post Hostage Deal talks Stalled as Hamas Rejects New Israeli Framework – Report first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Iran: ‘Israel Will Pay the Price’ for Allegedly Trying to Kill Pezeshkian
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian delivers a speech during the National Army Day parade ceremony in Tehran, Iran, April 18, 2025. Photo: Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS
i24 News – Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian was slightly injured in the leg during an Israeli airstrike, according to a report on Sunday by the Iranian news agency Fars, prompting Iran to launch a widespread probe to root out suspected moles that infiltrated the Islamic Republic’s highest ranks.
Al Jazeera cited an unnamed Iranian official who said, “The assassination attempt on President Pezeshkian will not go unanswered – Israel will pay the price.”
According to Fars, which has ties to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, the attack took place on the morning of Monday, June 16, while a meeting of the Supreme National Security Council was held on the lower floors of a building in western Tehran. In addition to the Iranian president, Speaker of Parliament Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, the head of the judiciary Mohseni Ajei, as well as other senior regime officials were attending this meeting.
Six bombs or missiles targeted the entry and exit points of the building in order to block evacuation routes and disrupt air circulation, the report said. This operation is said to have been inspired by the elimination of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah in Beirut last year. Following the explosions, power was cut on that floor, but the leaders managed to escape through an emergency exit prepared in advance.
Pezeshkian and several other officials sustained minor leg injuries during the evacuation, according to the agency. Given the accuracy of the information used in the attack, the media outlet reports that authorities are investigating the possibility of collaboration with Israel.
Official confirmation and reactions
A few days earlier, a high-ranking military leader in the Revolutionary Guards, Mohsen Rezaei, had stated on state television that Israel had “attacked six locations where the Supreme National Security Council had gathered, but none of its members had suffered even minor injuries.”
Pezeshkian had previously accused Israel of having attempted to assassinate him. “They tried, yes,” he told American journalist Tucker Carlson during an interview last week. “They acted accordingly, but they failed.”
The post Iran: ‘Israel Will Pay the Price’ for Allegedly Trying to Kill Pezeshkian first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Hezbollah Violates Ceasefire 7 Times a Day on Average, IDF Figures Show
A drone view of buildings in Lebanon, next to the Israel-Lebanon border, following the ceasefire between Israel and Iran-backed terror group Hezbollah, as seen from Metula in northern Israel, Dec. 2, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Ilan Rosenberg
i24 News – The Shiite jihadists of Hezbollah violate the ceasefire agreement with Israel more than seven times a day on average, according to Israel Defense Forces data obtained by i24NEWS and made public for the first time on Saturday.
Israel has flagged upward of 1,200 violations by Hezbollah in its report to the US-led five-country monitoring panel tasked with supervising the implementation of the ceasefire agreement.
Of these, 650 violations were relayed to the Lebanese army for handling, while the rest of the times the IDF responded by attacking the violators.
The Lebanese army has identified 390 additional violations on its own initiative and filed a report saying that it had handled them.
Thus official data shows that the Lebanese army handled 52% of all violations, and 440 of the targets Israel flagged by Israel.
The majority of the infractions the Lebanese army manages to stem are concentrated in the south of the country.
The post Hezbollah Violates Ceasefire 7 Times a Day on Average, IDF Figures Show first appeared on Algemeiner.com.