[Source/Observer Network, Chen Sijia] On May 22nd local time, the office of the Israeli Prime Minister once issued a statement saying that Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu had a telephone conversation with US President Trump on the same day, and both sides reached an agreement on preventing Iran from developing nuclear weapons.
However, Channel 12 News of Israel reported on the 26th that two sources said that Trump and Netanyahu actually have "substantial differences" on the Iranian issue. Trump prefers to reach a "good agreement" through diplomatic channels. In response, the office of the Israeli Prime Minister denied that there had been a "tense dialogue" between the two sides.
A source familiar with the content of the conversation said that the dialogue between the two leaders was actually "quite intense." When talking about the Iranian nuclear issue, Trump said to Netanyahu: "I hope to solve problems with the Iranians through diplomatic channels, and I believe I can reach a good agreement." Trump also emphasized in the call that he wanted to reach an agreement beneficial to both sides.
The Times of Israel pointed out that this is contradictory to the statement of the office of the Israeli Prime Minister. The prime minister's office previously issued a statement saying that Netanyahu and Trump had reached an agreement on "preventing Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons" at the end of their conversation.
In response, the office of the Israeli Prime Minister denied on the 26th that there had been a "tense dialogue," insisting that the relevant reports were "inconsistent with the facts."
On April 7th, Trump and Netanyahu met at the White House. Visual China
Chris Christie Nom, the US Secretary of Homeland Security, visited Israel on the 25th and met with Netanyahu in Jerusalem. Nom told Fox News in the United States on the 26th: "President Trump sent me here specifically to discuss with the prime minister (Netanyahu) how the US-Iran negotiations are progressing and the importance of maintaining unity and advancing negotiations."
Nom refused to specify the details of the Trump-Netanyahu phone call, but said that after the call, the prime minister's team had a conversation with them, and they did not remember having a frank and direct bilateral meeting.
When asked whether Israel had put aside its plans to attack Iran, Nom responded: "President Trump will never accept an Iran with nuclear weapons. The intelligence held by Israel and shared with the United States, as well as our own intelligence, is crucial to the negotiations. I think the message we want to convey to the American public is that we have a president who yearns for peace, but he will not tolerate Iran developing nuclear weapons."
Nom added that Trump hoped Netanyahu could reach a consensus with him.
Axios News Network reported on the 21st, citing two sources, that if the US-Iran negotiations break down, Israel is prepared to launch an attack on Iran's nuclear facilities. The sources revealed that the Israeli intelligence community believed that the US-Iran negotiations might "fail soon," so the Israeli military was planning to attack Iran before the "action window closed."
One of the sources said: "Netanyahu is waiting for the moment when the nuclear negotiations collapse, Trump becomes disappointed with the negotiations, and is willing to approve the attack."
However, an American official told Axios News that the Trump administration was concerned that Israel might launch an attack without the approval of the United States.
Under the mediation of Oman, the United States and Iran have held multiple rounds of indirect talks since this April, which is the highest-level contact between the two countries after the United States unilaterally withdrew from the Iran nuclear deal during Trump's first term. On May 23rd local time, the fifth round of indirect negotiations between the United States and Iran began in Rome, Italy for three days.
Trump claimed on the 25th that "some real and significant progress" had been made in the negotiations, "we have had very, very good conversations with Iran, let's see what happens, but I think we can get some good news on the Iranian issue."
However, Agence France-Presse reported that after the fifth round of indirect negotiations, Iranian Foreign Minister Araghchi downplayed the progress, emphasizing that "the negotiations are too complex to be resolved in two or three rounds of talks." Foreign Minister Badar of Oman also said that the fifth round of negotiations "made some but not decisive progress," and hoped that the remaining issues could be clarified in the coming days.
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Bagaei stated on the 26th that uranium enrichment activities are part of Iran's peaceful development of nuclear energy, and Iran will firmly defend this right. Bagaei warned that if the United States attempts to deprive Iran of its right to uranium enrichment, it may seriously jeopardize the entire negotiation process. He emphasized that Iran will not yield to any form of pressure and will make a resolute response to defend national security.
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