U.S. President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met Wednesday at the White House as negotiations regarding Iran’s nuclear program entered an important phase and the stakes were raised for both regional security and world diplomacy.
The meeting takes place as U.S. contacts with Iran have increased and many people worry there may be renewed U.S. military action in the Middle East. The U.S. is attempting to get restrictions on Iran’s nuclear program and Israel wants to have an overall multilateral agreement with Iran that includes limitations on its missile program and its funding of various militant groups in the region.
Prior to going to Washington for the meeting, Netanyahu stated that he would outline the “principles” for Israel regarding future agreements with Iran. Israeli officials want to make sure that the agreement the U.S. has with Iran goes beyond just nuclear enrichment and also places restrictions on Iran’s use of ballistic missiles, as well as its support of terrorist organizations such as Hamas and Hezbollah.
Netanyahu has long argued that Iran represents an existential threat to Israel and continues to fear that the U.S. will enter into a very limited deal with Iran that provides Iran with long-term strategic capabilities.
Pressure and Diplomatic Negotiations from Trump
Trump warned Iran about military action should diplomatic channels fail to yield a satisfactory resolution. In interviews recently, Trump has claimed that the “best deal” with Iran would be: No nuclear weapons, no ballistic missiles. To this extent, he has also indicated that he will contemplate the prospect of deploying more U.S. navy vessels into the area.
However, the Administration still sees a negotiated end to the conflict as preferable. The U.S. believes this is achievable due to Iran’s weakened position resulting from ongoing demonstrations as well as limited air strikes against Iran last year.
According to Secretary of State Marco Rubio, discussions of Iran’s future should address both its behavior in regard to regional issues and how it conducts its internal governance.
Iran Is Unwilling to Accept Further Demands
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian stated that Iran will not make any further concessions to excessive demands. While Iran has stated it would be willing to freeze portions of its nuclear program in exchange for removing sanctions, it rejects any linkage of missile restrictions as a further requirement in the continuation of the dialogue regarding nuclear weapons.
Ali Shamkhani, the advisor to Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, has stated that Iran’s missile capability is “not negotiable.”
Iran maintains that all of its nuclear activities are peaceful and open to complete and full verification.
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Gaza and regional tensions
Trump and Netanyahu discussed Gaza during their meeting, where there is currently a fragile ceasefire in place between Israel and Hamas, which is presently stalled due to Hamas noncompliance. The next phases of the agreement involve the disarmament of Hamas, withdrawal of Israeli troops, large-scale reconstruction efforts—all areas where little progress has been made.
Discrepancies may also develop over Trump’s potential acceptance of establishing a future Palestinian state—an idea that is opposed by Netanyahu’s right-wing coalition.
Why this meeting is important
This meeting at the White House is indicative of a new era for diplomacy in the Middle East. Some analysts feel that as Iranian diplomacy and its economy deteriorate, Iran’s vulnerability will provide Israel and Washington with more diplomatic leverage. However, if there is too much pressure, then it may lead Tehran to find itself back in a confrontational position.
According to several former officials of the US, it is unlikely if Trump will want to engage in a large-scale military conflict during an election year and thus he may continue to attempt to reach a negotiated settlement. Ultimately how the US might pursue either a limited nuclear deal with Iran or a broader security agreement can help establish stability in the region for many years to come. In the interim, the significance of the Trump-Netanyahu meeting illustrates how consequential and fragile the present moment in US-Iran relations is being seen as.
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