Trump made an unexpected announcement Monday during a televised show in Washington.
“It’s going on Saturday,” the US president said of the planned consultations.
“We have a very big meeting and we’ll see what happens. I think everyone agrees that it’s better to do a deal than to do the obvious, and the obvious one is not something I want to be involved,” he said of the prospect of launching a military aggression against the Islamic Republic.
Trump even went as far as he insisted that the Israeli administration would not be engaging in such a scenario “if it could be avoided.”
“Hopefully these talks will be successful,” Trump concluded.
“Shock written all over their faces.”
According to the Israeli Hayom newspaper, the statement visibly unsettled Israeli delegations who had no idea about such future negotiations.
Senior political sources said Israeli officials were trying to downplay the moment by claiming that they were actually anticipating such a move, but “Israel had no prior knowledge of an agreement to begin talks between Trump and the Iranians.”
An Israeli official who attended the scene said “shocks were written all over their faces.”
Netanyahu reportedly responded to the announcement by requesting a complete dismantling rather than simply a freeze of Iran’s nuclear energy infrastructure.
In the meantime, another source confirmed during the meeting that Netanyahu was told that the Israeli regime was involved in shaping the content of the negotiations and called it a “very positive aspect” that was contrary to surprise.
The indirect US consultation announcement came in reports that the Omani sultan has resumed its role as an intermediary between Tehran and Washington.
Meanwhile, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Aragci and US Regional Envoy Steve Witkov said they would hold an indirect debate in Muscat, Oman’s capital, on Saturday.
Tehran consistently emphasizes that it is based on mutual respect and complete lifting of illegal, unilateral sanctions in Washington, particularly on full respect and complete lifting of what was imposed under Trump’s so-called “maximum pressure” campaign.
Meanwhile, Trump’s sudden announcement masked what was initially billed as a Netanyahu trip, discussing a variety of issues, including trade and tariff issues.
Israeli media later acknowledged that Netanyahu’s hastily organized visit was to directly explain the Israeli Prime Minister about future meetings with the United States.
“I returned the humiliation, empty-handed.”
Another Israeli paper, Yedio Afronos, said Netanyahu arrived in Washington, expecting 17% of the fierce Trump had imposed on Israeli goods. Instead, Israeli officials received a response that was “responded” with a “severe and somewhat humiliating” response and left without any concrete results.
“The Prime Minister had not received the gift he wanted, a declaration from Trump that he would cut or cancel the 17% tariff on Israeli imports.”
Instead, Trump praised Netanyahu for lowering tariffs on American goods, urging other officials to follow the lawsuit, and only promised to “continue to talk” about the issue.
Trump also made no major policy announcements regarding the issue of the Gaza Strip, where the administration has been in the war of massacres since October 2023 and Israeli prisoner of war scores are being held.
The Israeli paper said Trump had given only vague comments about prisoners of war, expressing his hope that the war in Gaza will “end soon.”
But despite the likelihood of facing Netanyahu, Trump used the conference to highlight Washington’s military aid to Israel, saying “The United States will give $4 billion a year.”
The US president also said the controversial plan that the US “his” Gaza announced earlier this year to “go back to the table” “confident” some countries that Netanyahu “convinced him.”
“The most failed meeting ever”
The Israeli Wala website described the event as “probably the most failed meeting” between the US president and the Israeli Prime Minister.
“Netanyahu found himself in an oval office in a situation he didn’t expect. Trump poses complicated political, security and economic issues on him, and he couldn’t effectively deal with any of them,” the outlet said.
Maarib Daily also explained that the trip would end with an “embarrassing event” that raised more questions than he answered. Rather than piloting the agenda, Netanyahu reported that Trump has decided to make his return to the relevance of his stage-controlled foreign policy into “mere props.”
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