The Israeli prime minister wants talks between the United States and Iran to address Tehran’s ballistic missiles, a red line for Tehran.
Posted on February 9, 2026
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will travel to the United States to meet Donald Trump as the US president confirmed his plans to hold follow-up talks with Iran after weekend talks in Oman between the two foes, according to Netanyahu’s office.
The talks will address the United States’ ongoing negotiations with Iran, the Israeli Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) said on Monday, as Netanyahu believes Tehran should be pressured to “limit ballistic missiles” and end its support for regional groups, such as Hamas and Hezbollah.
Recommended stories
list of 3 itemsend of list
The planned meeting will be the seventh between Trump and Netanyahu since the US president returned to office last year. Analysts say Netanyahu will likely urge Trump to pressure Tehran on its ballistic missile program, which Tehran considers a red line.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has maintained that the talks will continue to focus on the nuclear issue and not on its missile program, which he considered “non-negotiable.”
On Sunday, President Masoud Pezeshkian described the indirect talks held on Friday in Oman as a “step forward” and said his administration favors dialogue.
“Our reasoning on the nuclear issue is based on the rights stipulated in the Non-Proliferation Treaty,” Pezeshkian wrote in a post on X on Sunday. “The Iranian nation has always responded to respect with respect, but it cannot endure the language of force.”
Iranian officials have expressed enthusiasm for nuclear-only negotiations while rejecting a massive U.S. military buildup in the region.
Although both Israel and the United States are antagonistic toward Iran, Israel has taken an even tougher stance in the negotiations, which Trump says will resume this week.
The US president said the latest round of talks that ended in Oman on Friday was “very good” and that Iran “seems very eager to reach a deal.”
“If they don’t reach an agreement, the consequences will be very serious,” Trump added.
“A long road to generating trust”
The talks between the United States and Iran come after weeks of Trump threatening military action if Iran did not reach a deal. He stepped up the pressure by deploying an aircraft carrier and accompanying warships to the Middle East.
World powers and regional states fear that a breakdown in negotiations could lead to the conflict spreading to the rest of the oil-producing region.
Iranian Minister Araghchi said talks with the United States are “a good start” but “there is a long way to go to build trust.”
Trita Parsi, co-founder of the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft, a foreign policy think tank, said the outcome of the U.S. talks with Iran could depend on whether Washington focuses on its nuclear demands, which are “absolutely achievable,” or adopts Israel’s maximalist position.
“If we see a continuation of the pursuit of Israeli red lines, I presume those talks will collapse very soon,” Parsi told Al Jazeera.
