Netanyahu expected in Washington for talks with Trump and Aoun, report says
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is expected to travel to Washington in about two and a half weeks for a meeting with President Donald Trump and Lebanese President Joseph Aoun, i24NEWS reported.
The report points to a possible next step in US efforts to push Israel-Lebanon diplomacy after Trump said last week that he would invite Netanyahu and Aoun to Washington for what he described as the first meaningful talks between the two sides in decades.
With US-Iran talks in Pakistan in doubt after Iran's foreign minister left Islamabad and President Trump canceled the planned trip by US negotiators, veteran journalist Eli Lake says Washington should use its leverage not only on the nuclear file, but to help the people of Iran.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi was in Islamabad on Saturday, where he met Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and army chief Asim Munir as Pakistan continued efforts to mediate between Tehran and Washington.
A Pakistani source involved in the talks told Reuters that Araghchi conveyed Tehran’s demands and concerns about US positions during the visit. Iranian state media also said he delivered Iran’s response to proposals in a meeting with Munir before leaving Islamabad for Oman and Russia.
Iranian officials had earlier said Araghchi had no plan to meet US officials in Pakistan.
Lake, a journalist at The Free Press and host of the Breaking History podcast, told Eye for Iran that the Islamic Republic is seeking negotiations as a lifeline after major military, economic and political setbacks.
“Their backs are against the wall and these negotiations they hope are going to be a lifeline,” Lake said.
But he argued that any renewed diplomatic track should begin with pressure on Tehran over the Iranian people.
“If I was Vice President Vance, I would say… the first thing I’d say is, you need to turn back on the internet if you’re going to get these financial lifelines. You need to release political prisoners,” Lake said.
He added that Washington should also demand an end to executions.
The remarks come as Iran’s internet blackout has entered its 57th day, according to NetBlocks, with international connectivity still largely severed amid worsening conditions inside the country.
Lake said the US should recognize that “our best allies are the Iranian people on the ground,” and warned against strikes on civilian infrastructure such as power plants, saying they would hurt ordinary Iranians more than the Islamic Republic.
The diplomatic maneuvering has also unfolded amid signs of deepening disagreement inside Tehran. Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, the parliament speaker, has stepped down as head of Iran’s negotiating team amid internal disputes, with Saeed Jalili floated as a possible replacement and Araghchi seeking greater control of the talks.
Lake said he believes the fractures inside the Islamic Republic are genuine.
“At the end of the day, with enough pressure, they’re probably going to start turning on each other,” he said.
He argued that the Islamic Republic has lost legitimacy and that Iran’s future will ultimately be decided by Iranians themselves.
Iran’s foreign minister said Tehran had shared its position on a “workable framework to permanently end the war on Iran” during talks in Pakistan, while questioning whether the United States was serious about diplomacy.
In a post on X after leaving Islamabad, Abbas Araghchi described his visit as “very fruitful” and praised Pakistan’s “good offices and brotherly efforts” to restore peace to the region.
“Have yet to see if the US is truly serious about diplomacy,” he added.
Araghchi’s remarks came after meetings in Islamabad with Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and army chief Asim Munir, as Pakistan continued efforts to mediate between Tehran and Washington.
After leaving Pakistan, Araghchi arrived in Oman’s capital, Muscat.
Donald Trump later said he had canceled the planned trip by US negotiators to Pakistan, leaving the next step in the diplomatic track unclear.
US President Donald Trump said he had canceled the planned trip of his representatives to Islamabad for talks with Iran, saying too much time would have been wasted on travel and saying there was deep infighting and confusion within Iran’s leadership.
In a post on Truth Social, Trump also said the United States held the upper hand and suggested Tehran could still initiate contact if it wanted talks, writing: “If they want to talk, all they have to do is call.”
Donald Trump canceled a planned trip by US negotiators to Pakistan for talks on Iran, Fox News reported.
The report adds fresh uncertainty to diplomacy that had already appeared in doubt after Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi left Islamabad on Saturday following meetings with Pakistani officials, before any US-Iran session was confirmed.
Iran had also said Araghchi had no plan to meet US officials in Pakistan.
Kamran Khansari-Nia, head of exiled Prince Reza Pahlavi’s office, said in a video posted on the office’s X account that the prince’s security team was independently reviewing all aspects of the Berlin incident and reassessing protection protocols for public events.
He said that during foreign trips, especially in European countries, responsibility for security lies with the police of the host country, and that in this case protection had been the responsibility of German and Berlin police.
Khansari-Nia also said the liquid used in the incident caused no physical harm and that Prince Reza Pahlavi was in full health.
The incident took place on Thursday after Pahlavi’s meetings with German lawmakers and a press conference in Berlin, when he was splashed with red liquid as he left the federal press conference building.
