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US President Donald Trump told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during a meeting at Mar-a-Lago in December that he would support Israeli strikes on Iran’s ballistic missile program if nuclear talks between Washington and Tehran failed, CBS News reported, citing sources familiar with the matter.
Two months later, internal discussions between senior figures in the US military and intelligence community have begun to contemplate the possibility of supporting a fresh round of Israeli strikes on Iran, the report added
The deliberations have focused less on whether Israel could carry out such attacks and more on how Washington might assist, including potential aerial refueling for Israeli aircraft and securing overflight permission from countries along possible flight routes, the report said, citing US officials familiar with the planning.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday outlined what he said were key conditions required for an agreement including curbs on its ballistic missiles program.
“I will not hide from you that I expressed my skepticism of any deal with Iran because, frankly, Iran is reliable on one thing: they lie and they cheat,” Netanyahu said, speaking at the Conference of Presidents’ 51st Annual National Leadership Mission.
He said any deal should include several components he views as essential not only for Israel’s security but for that of the United States and the wider world.
“The first is that all enriched material has to leave Iran. The second is that there should be no enrichment capability, not stopping the enrichment process, but dismantle the equipment and the infrastructure that allows you to enrich in the first place,” he said.
Netanyahu added that an agreement should also address Iran’s ballistic missile program, citing a 300-kilometer range limit under the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR).
“There's an MTCR limitation of 300 kilometers, and Iran is supposed to adhere to it. Of course, it doesn't,” Netanyahu said.
He added that any agreement should also address its support for Iran’s regional allied groups.
“And the fourth is… dismantle the axis of terror that Iran has built. It's been smashed, but it's still there, and it's trying to recover, as Iran itself is trying to do,” he said.
Netanyahu also cited the need for inspections.
“And the last thing is, remember Ronald Reagan's dictum vis-à-vis the Soviet Union: Trust but verify, distrust, distrust, and always verify. So there has to be real inspections, substantive inspections, no lead-time inspections, but effective inspections for all of the above,” he said.
The Taliban said it is ready to cooperate with Iran if Washington launches a potential attack, spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said on Sunday.
In an interview with Radio Iran’s Pashto service, Mujahid said that in the event of an attack — and if assistance were requested — Kabul would cooperate with the Islamic Republic.
He added that Tehran emerged victorious in June's 12-day war with Israel, adding that Iran would prevail again in the event of a US attack.
“The President has made clear he prefers diplomacy and an outcome of negotiated settlement. Now, we are dealing with radical Shiite clerics… We are dealing with people who make geopolitical decisions on the basis of pure theology, and it is a complicated thing,” US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Sunday, referring to negotiations with Iran.
"No one has ever been able to do a successful deal with Iran, but we are going to try,” he added, speaking at a press conference alongside Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico in Bratislava, Slovakia.
Rubio said the United States remains militarily postured in the region to protect its forces but stressed that current efforts are centered on diplomacy.
“We are postured in the region for one simple reason, and that is that we understand that there could be threats to our forces in the region… We want to make sure that we have sufficient capacity to defend them if God forbid that were to happen,” he said.
He added that any future decisions would comply with US law and congressional requirements but emphasized negotiations remain the immediate priority.
“Right now we are talking about negotiations. We are focused on negotiations. That is what we are focused on. The President has made that clear,” Rubio said.
Iran’s passive defense chief Gholamreza Jalali said the Islamic Republic is “fully prepared” for what he described as threat scenarios designed by the United States and Israel, Iranian state media reported.
Speaking at the start of a chemical emergency drill in Assaluyeh, in the Persian Gulf, Jalali said Iran’s defense planning has pushed threats from Washington and Israel to a “deterrence” stage, arguing adversaries must calculate the costs before taking action.
He outlined three scenarios he said opponents pursue, including media pressure and threats aimed at intimidation and forcing negotiations, limited and controlled actions, and attempts to trigger a broader regional war.
Jalali also said safety rules in high-risk sectors including chemical and nuclear industries are enforced strictly, and described drills as a way to identify weaknesses and improve coordination in crisis response.
