U.S. President Donald Trump disclosed on Wednesday that he warned Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu recently not to do anything that could interfere with current nuclear talks with Iran.
Appearing with reporters in the Oval Office, Trump stated, "I told him this would be inappropriate to do right now because we're very close to a solution now. That could change at any moment."
The remarks came after Israel denied a New York Times report of Netanyahu weighing military action against Iran's central nuclear enrichment facilities to derail the U.S.-Iran negotiations.
Israeli officials, worried that Trump might be too desperate to close a deal with Iran, feared the U.S. might give in to letting Tehran keep its nuclear enrichment facilities—a situation Israel deems unacceptable, the New York Times reported.
The report cited Israel's increased concern regarding any temporary accord that would allow Iran to continue running its nuclear facilities for a long time while the permanent solution is being negotiated.
Referring to U.S. intelligence estimates, the piece reported there were fears Israel could strike at Iran on short notice—possibly within a seven-hour time frame.
Netanyahu's office replied to the piece with a curt statement: "Fake news."
But the New York Times stood by its journalism. "The New York Times coverage of this story is fair and based on interviews with individuals directly close to the situation. We stand by what we reported," a spokesman wrote in an email.
The newspaper also stated that Netanyahu's minister for strategic affairs, Ron Dermer, and Mossad chief David Barnea met Trump's envoy Steve Witkoff in Rome on Friday. They went to Washington for a meeting with CIA Director John Ratcliffe on Monday, and Dermer met with Witkoff again on Tuesday, according to the newspaper.
One of the most contentious issues in the talks is the U.S. insistence that Iran shut down its nuclear enrichment program, which Tehran continues to oppose.
U.S. Homeland Secretary Kristi Noem said on Monday that she had a "very candid conversation" with Netanyahu about the status of the nuclear talks. She said that Trump had requested that she pass along a message expressing "how important it is that we stay united and let this process play out."
Trump, who recently toured the Middle East without stopping in Israel, has made several foreign policy decisions that challenge Israel’s traditional expectations of its strategic partnership with the U.S.
Despite rising speculation about tensions between the two allies, both Netanyahu and Trump have publicly dismissed the idea of any diplomatic rift.
