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Associated Press

US President Donald Trump said Wednesday he has told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to hold off on striking Iran to give the US administration more time to push for a new nuclear deal with Tehran.
“I told him this would be inappropriate to do right now because we’re very close to a solution,” Trump told reporters at the White House. “Now, that could change at any moment. It could change with a phone call. But right now, I think they want to make a deal. And, if we can make a deal, (it would) save a lot of lives.”
Trump added that an agreement could come together “over the next couple of weeks, if it happens”.
The Israeli prime minister’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Trump’s comments came as the head of the United Nations’ atomic watchdog said “the jury is still out” on negotiations between Iran and the US over Tehran’s rapidly advancing nuclear programme.
But Rafael Mariano Grossi, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, described the continuing negotiations between Iran and the US as a good sign.
Grossi said he was in near-daily conversation with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, as well as talking to Steve Witkoff, the US Middle East envoy.
Grossi acknowledged one of his deputies was in Tehran on Wednesday. Iranian officials identified the official as Massimo Aparo, the head of the atomic energy agency’s safeguards arm. That is the division that sends inspectors into Iran to monitor its programme, which now enriches uranium up to 60 per cent purity – a short, technical step from weapons-grade levels of 90 per cent.
“For the moment, the jury is still out,” Grossi told journalists attending a weeklong seminar at the agency in Vienna. “We don’t know whether there’s going to be an agreement or not.”
However, he described the meetings as a good sign.

“I think that is an indication of a willingness to come to an agreement. And I think that, in and by itself, is something possible.”
Iran and the US so far have held five rounds of talks in both Muscat, Oman, and in Rome, mediated by Omani Foreign Minister Badr al-Busaidi. A sixth round has yet to be set.
The talks seek to limit Iran’s nuclear programme in exchange for the lifting of some of the crushing economic sanctions the US has imposed on the Islamic Republic, closing in on a half-century of enmity.
Trump has repeatedly threatened to unleash air strikes targeting Iran’s programme, if a deal was not reached. Iranian officials increasingly warn they could pursue a nuclear weapon with their stockpile of uranium.
Trump has described Iran as having an American proposal to reach a deal. However, Iran repeatedly has denied receiving such a proposal, including on Wednesday with Mohammad Eslami, the head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran.
However, if a deal was reached, Iran might allow the UN atomic energy agency to have American inspectors on its teams during inspections, Eslami said. Americans represent the largest single nationality of that agency’s employees, a 2023 agency report showed.

Before Grossi’s comments to journalists in Vienna, the head of Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard issued a new warning to the US as the negotiations go on.
“Our fingers on the trigger, we are in ambush and we are waiting,” General Hossein Salami warned. “If they make a mistake, they will immediately receive responses that will make them completely forget their past.”
Israel earlier rejected a report in The New York Times that Netanyahu has been threatening to disrupt the talks 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.
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.
Additional reporting by Reuters


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Middle East

Trump says he told Netanyahu to hold off striking Iran, citing ‘very close’ nuclear deal

This satellite photo shows the Natanz nuclear facility in Iran. Photo: Planet Labs PBC via AP

 Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and US President Donald Trump at the White House in February. Photo: Reuters

Armed Israeli Air Force jets depart from an unknown location to attack Iranian targets in October, 2024. File photo: Israeli Army via AP

A S-300 missile system at Iran’s annual Army Day in April. File photo: EPA-EFE

Iran, US finish latest round of nuclear negotiations, enrichment key issue

Iranian delegates arrive at the Omani Embassy in Rome on Friday for a meeting with a US delegation to discuss Tehran’s nuclear programme. Photo: AP

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei earlier this month. Photo: Handout via Reuters

US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff, who was in Rome on Friday for talks with Iran. Photo:  Reuters

With his ‘historic’ tour, Trump puts US power back in the Middle East

President Donald Trump visits US troops at the Al Udeid Air Base in Doha, Qatar, on May 15. Photo: Reuters

The cover of an Iranian newspaper featuring US President Donald Trump and US Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff, is seen in Tehran, Iran, on May 11. Photo: West Asia News Agency via Reuters

US President Donald Trump signs a guest book next to UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, at Qasr Al Watan, in Abu Dhabi on May 15. Photo: Reuters

Iranian nuclear enrichment ‘red line’ for US ahead of new talks, envoy Steve Witkoff says

US President Donald Trump congratulates his Special Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff during Witkoff’s swearing-in ceremony in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington on Tuesday. Photo: EPA-EFE

Then a senator, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, takes questions from reporters after a briefing on the details of the threat that prompted the US to kill Iranian General Qassem Soleimani, on January 8, 2020. Photo: AP

A girl walks past a picture of Hassan Nasrallah, who was killed during Israeli air strikes in Beirut last year, on the outskirts of Beirut, Lebanon, on February 24. Photo: Reuters

Trump says ‘getting close’ to deal to avoid Iran military action

A newspaper with a cover photo of US President Donald Trump and Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff, in Tehran. Photo: via Reuters

US President Donald Trump (left) and Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Photo: AP

Trump leaves Abu Dhabi International Airport after his arrival on Thursday. Photo: AP

News

World

United States & Canada

US president warns Israel against pre-emptive action as UN watchdog says ‘jury is still out’ on Tehran talks


US president warns Israel against pre-emptive action as UN watchdog says ‘jury is still out’ on Tehran talks.


Trump says he told Netanyahu to hold off striking Iran, citing ‘very close’ nuclear deal

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}US president warns Israel against pre-emptive action as UN watchdog says ‘jury is still out’ on Tehran talks

US president warns Israel against pre-emptive action as UN watchdog says ‘jury is still out’ on Tehran talks