Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is scheduled to meet U.S. President Donald Trump in Washington on Wednesday as the United States pursues indirect talks with Iran over its nuclear program and Israel presses for tighter limits on Tehran’s ballistic missiles and regional proxy support, against the backdrop of a stepped-up U.S. military posture in the Middle East.
The meeting is expected to focus on Israel’s position that any agreement with Iran should include limits on Iran’s ballistic missile program and an end to support for allied armed groups in the region, including Hezbollah and Hamas, as Washington and Tehran test the possibility of reviving diplomacy on Iran’s nuclear activities.
Netanyahu’s visit comes as the Trump administration has increased its military presence in the region. Trump has described the buildup—centered on the USS Abraham Lincoln carrier strike group, additional warships and aircraft—as an “armada” positioned to respond if Tehran refuses to negotiate.
Indirect U.S.-Iran talks concluded in Oman on Friday, and both sides indicated additional rounds were possible. Trump said the discussions were “very good,” while Iran’s foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, said the talks took place in “a calm atmosphere, without tension and without threats.”
Araghchi has publicly rejected expanding the negotiations beyond the nuclear file. In remarks to Al Jazeera after the Oman talks, he said Iran’s “missile issue” is “in no way negotiable, neither now nor at any time in the future.” He also warned that if the United States attacks Iran, Tehran would retaliate against U.S. bases in the region.
The U.S. delegation for the latest round included Special Envoy Steve Witkoff. The White House also brought in Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law and a senior adviser during Trump’s first term who was closely involved in the diplomacy that led to the Abraham Accords. In addition, U.S. Navy Adm. Brad Cooper, the head of U.S. Central Command, attended in uniform, underscoring the close linkage between diplomacy and the ongoing military posture.
Tensions flared ahead of the talks. On Tuesday, the U.S. military said an F-35C fighter jet from the Abraham Lincoln shot down an Iranian Shahed-139 drone that it said “aggressively approached” the carrier in the Arabian Sea. U.S. Central Command spokesman Capt. Tim Hawkins said the drone was destroyed “in self-defense and to protect the aircraft carrier and personnel on board.”
Hours later, Central Command said Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps harassed the U.S.-flagged and U.S.-crewed oil tanker Stena Imperative while it was transiting the Strait of Hormuz. Hawkins said two Iranian boats and an Iranian Mohajer drone approached at “high speeds” and threatened to board and seize the vessel; the guided-missile destroyer USS McFaul responded and the situation de-escalated.
Trump, asked in recent comments whether he would support Israeli strikes if Iran continued advancing its missile or nuclear programs, responded: “The missiles, yes. The nuclear, fast. One would be yes, absolutely, the other was, we’ll do it immediately.”
