Israel has proposed revamping its four-decade-old free trade agreement with the United States, its economy minister said on Monday, as it looks to head off tariffs from its closest ally.

An upgraded trade pact would ease restrictions on data sharing that would enable significant collaboration, Economy Minister Nir Barkat told Reuters at a conference in Jerusalem.

He said Israel had already agreed to several requests, which included lifting tariffs on US agricultural goods.

Most US goods are already exempt from Israeli tariffs under a 1985 trade deal. The US. is Israel‘s biggest trading partner with bilateral trade worth an estimated $37 billion in 2024, according to US trade data. Last year, Israel had a $7.4 billion trade surplus with the United States.

President Donald Trump’s administration this month announced sweeping tariffs on dozens of countries, including a 17 percent levy on Israeli imports, before saying there would be a 90-day pause with a baseline 10 percent tariff on imports to allow for trade negotiations.

Prior to the sweeping tariffs announcement, Israel said it would lift all remaining import duties on US goods and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met with Trump in Washington.

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Three teenagers were convicted in Sweden on Monday of being involved in a shooting attack on an office of Israeli defense contractor Elbit Systems in Gothenburg last year.

A fourth boy, who was accused of actually carrying out the attack by opening fire at the entrance to the building in October, was 13 at the time – too young for him to stand trial under Swedish law.

No one was injured in the shooting. The verdict did not mention any motive for the attack.

One boy who was 15 at the time was found guilty of instigating attempted murder and sentenced to 20 months of juvenile detention, the Gothenburg District Court said in its verdict.

The court said he had persuaded the perpetrator to shoot, knowing there was a considerable risk someone could be killed. The boy’s lawyer declined to comment on the verdict.

The two other teenage defendants were acquitted of being accessory to attempted murder but were found guilty of the lesser charges of being accessory to threats and weapons crime and of involving an underage person.

Swedish police in May last year said they had stepped up security around Israeli and Jewish interests in the Nordic country after officers on patrol heard suspected gunshots near Israel’s embassy in Stockholm.

Sweden has seen an epidemic of gun violence in recent years, primarily driven by criminal gangs. The country’s minimum age for criminal responsibility is 15.

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Iran has proposed meeting the European parties to a 2015 nuclear deal possibly in Rome this Friday if talks resume with the United States, four diplomats said on Monday, cautioning that there has yet to be a response from the Europeans to the idea.

Iran is looking to build on the momentum of nuclear negotiations with the United States that resumed in Oman on Saturday and after talks with Russia and China last week.

Omani officials have said a new round of US-Iran talks could be held on May 3 in Europe. No formal decision has been taken.

Iran‘s reach out to Britain, France, and Germany, known as the E3, suggests Tehran is keeping its options open, but also wants to assess where the Europeans stand on the possible re-imposition of UN sanctions before October, when a resolution ratifying the 2015 accord expires.

Two E3 diplomats and a Western diplomat said Iran had communicated after last Saturday’s talks with the United States a proposal to meet possibly in Rome on Friday.

Should that not be possible, the Iranians also suggested discussions in Tehran before that date, the diplomats said.

The second round of negotiations between Washington and Tehran took place in Rome with Iran saying serious differences remained.

An Iranian official confirmed the proposal, but said the E3 had not responded so far.

The European and Western diplomats said the E3 were assessing whether it was in their interest to meet Iran now or wait to see how talks with Washington developed, but ruled out a meeting in Tehran.

“It is important to remain on the same page with all parties to the 2015 deal. Therefore, meeting the E3 countries this week ahead of the next round of talks with Americans would be useful,” said the Iranian official.

UN SANCTIONS DEADLINE

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said on Thursday he was ready to travel to Europe for talks, although he suggested that the ball was in Europe’s court after ties had soured between the two sides.

Since September, Tehran and the three European powers have met several times to discuss their ties and the nuclear issue.

The most recent meeting in March was held at the technical level, looking at the parameters of a future deal to secure a rollback of Iran‘s nuclear program in return for the lifting of sanctions.

Trump, who abandoned the 2015 pact between Tehran and world powers during his first term in 2018, has threatened to attack Iran unless it reaches a new deal swiftly that would prevent it from developing a nuclear weapon.

The West suspects Iran is pursuing nuclear weapons, which it denies. The threat of renewed sanctions is intended to pressure Tehran into concessions, making detailed discussions on strategy between the Americans and Europeans vital, diplomats say.

Because the United States quit the 2015 nuclear accord with Iran, it cannot initiate its mechanism for reimposing sanctions, called snapback, at the United Nations Security Council.

That makes the E3 the only participants in the deal who are capable of and interested in pursuing snapback.

When asked whether the proposal to meet Europeans was about snapback, the Iranian official indicated that was partly the aim.

“Talks with the US, particularly on the nuclear steps, are not moving fast and obviously we need more time, and Tehran is not much in favor of an interim deal, because of lack of trust to American side,” the official said.

“What if under an interim deal, we fulfil our step, and the other party does not. We need Europeans to understand that we want a new deal, and we are ready to take steps to limit our enrichment. But we need time.”

The British and German foreign ministries declined to comment specifically on whether Iran had proposed a meeting for later this week. France’s foreign ministry did not immediately respond for comment.

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