Netanyahu holds first White House talks with Trump since Iran war began, addressing ceasefire and nuclear goals.
WASHINGTON: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited the White House Tuesday for his first in-person talks with President Donald Trump since the Iran war began, as the US military reported it had intercepted multiple missiles launched by Tehran.
The closed-door talks, which the White House described as “positive and productive”, lasted about an hour and a half as the leaders sought to patch over public disagreements on the conflict.
Netanyahu said in a video message after the meeting that it was “one of the best conversations I’ve ever had with the president of the United States” and that it touched on “our common goal: ensuring that Iran does not obtain nuclear weapons.”
The Iran war began in late February with US-Israeli strikes but has seen a recent pause, with Washington saying it wants to give negotiations a chance.
Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels said Tuesday they targeted a Saudi oil tanker, the NCC Ghazal, in the Red Sea with ballistic missiles for violating a blockade on the kingdom’s ports announced by the Iran-backed group. Saudi Arabia had yet to comment but reported having intercepted drones targeting oil facilities in its east, blaming pro-Iran militias in Iraq.
US Central Command said Tuesday that “Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps forces launched multiple ballistic missiles from Iran in an attempted surprise attack on US forces based in the Middle East”, adding that all missiles were successfully intercepted.
Both sides had held their fire over the weekend, following nearly two weeks of nightly US strikes on Iran and repeated missile and drone salvos by Tehran targeting Washington’s allies around the Gulf. Israel has not taken part in the latest round of hostilities between the United States and Iran, which flared earlier this month as an April ceasefire collapsed.
The meeting was the eighth between the two leaders since Trump’s return to office in early 2025 and came ahead of key electoral tests later this year: national elections in Israel and US midterm polls.
Netanyahu’s office said he attended a private memorial dinner in Washington on Monday evening in honour of the late senator Lindsey Graham. Relations between Trump and Netanyahu reached a low point in April during negotiations on the ceasefire with Iran, with Trump unleashing profanity-laced tirades against the Israeli premier. Trump later described Netanyahu as a “very difficult guy.” Netanyahu downplayed the exchanges as “tactical disagreements”, saying they were aligned on the war’s goals.
On Tuesday, the leaders were expected to discuss implementation of a US-sponsored framework deal signed by Israel and Lebanon last month, and diplomatic efforts on Gaza, where reconstruction remains at a standstill nearly three years after the war between Israel and Hamas broke out.
Danny Danon, Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations, said Netanyahu’s visit came at a “critical time for the Middle East”, with Iran continuing “to choose terrorism over negotiations” and blocking the Strait of Hormuz.
Yonatan Freeman, an international relations expert at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, said the primary aim was to dispel reports of a cooling in ties. “I think that the main issue … is to show the world, to show Iran, and also even Lebanon and others … that there is no break or any kind of major disagreement between the United States and Israel,” Freeman told AFP.
