Netanyahu to Urge Expanded Iran Talks  02/11 06:08

   With President Donald Trump saying he believes Iran wants to make a deal on 
its nuclear program, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is expected to 
arrive at the White House on Wednesday with his own urgent message: Expand the 
talks further.

   WASHINGTON (AP) -- With President Donald Trump saying he believes Iran wants 
to make a deal on its nuclear program, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin 
Netanyahu is expected to arrive at the White House on Wednesday with his own 
urgent message: Expand the talks further.

   The visit from Netanyahu -- their seventh meeting in Trump's second term -- 
comes as both Tehran and Washington are projecting cautious optimism after 
holding indirect talks in Oman on Friday about how once again to approach 
negotiations over Iran's nuclear program.

   "We'll see what happens. I think they want to make a deal," Trump said in an 
interview Tuesday with Fox Business Network's Larry Kudlow. "I think they'd be 
foolish if they didn't. We took out their nuclear power last time, and we'll 
have to see if we take out more this time."

   He added, "It's got to be a good deal. No nuclear weapons, no missiles."

   Netanyahu pushes for more in Iran talks

   Netanyahu's office has said he wants those talks to include limits on Iran's 
ballistic missile program and support for militant groups like the Palestinian 
Hamas and Lebanon's Hezbollah.

   "I will present to the president our outlook regarding the principles of 
these negotiations -- the essential principles which, in my opinion, are 
important not only to Israel, but to everyone around the world who wants peace 
and security in the Middle East," Netanyahu said Tuesday before departing 
Israel.

   It remains unclear how much influence Netanyahu will have over Trump's 
approach toward Iran. Trump initially threatened to take military action over 
Iran's bloody crackdown on nationwide protests in January, then shifted to a 
pressure campaign in recent weeks to try to get Tehran to make a deal over its 
nuclear program.

   Iran's is still reeling from the 12-day war with Israel this past June. The 
devastating series of airstrikes, including the U.S. bombing several Iranian 
nuclear sites, killed nearly 1,000 people in Iran and almost 40 in Israel.

   Trump, at the time, said the U.S. action had "obliterated" Iran's nuclear 
capabilities, though the amount of damage remains unclear. Satellite photos of 
nuclear sites have recently captured activity, prompting concern Iran could be 
attempting to salvage or assess damage at the sites.

   Israel has long called for Iran to cease all uranium enrichment, dial back 
its ballistic missile program and cut ties to militant groups across the 
region. Iran has always rejected those demands, saying it would only accept 
some limits on its nuclear program in return for sanctions relief.

   "There's probably a degree of concern (for the Israelis) over the Iranians 
using any negotiation process to deflect some of the pressure," said Naysan 
Rafati, senior Iran analyst at the Washington-based International Crisis Group.

   He added that Netanyahu will likely stress to Trump that there "shouldn't be 
an open-ended negotiation for the sake of negotiation, but to have the kind of 
parameters where the West should be willing to walk away from the table."

   To that end, the U.S. has built up military forces in the region, sending an 
aircraft carrier, guided-missile destroyers, air defense assets and more to 
supplement its presence. Arab and Islamic countries, including Turkey and 
Qatar, have been urging both sides to show restraint, warning that any strike 
or retaliation could have destabilizing consequences for a region already 
strained by the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza.

   Gaza is likely to come up

   That conflict is sure to come up on Wednesday as Trump plans to hold the 
first meeting next week of the Board of Peace, which was initially framed to 
oversee future steps of the U.S.-brokered Gaza ceasefire plan but has taken 
shape with Trump's ambitions of resolving other global crises.

   On Iran, Trump said Friday that his special envoy Steve Witkoff and 
son-in-law Jared Kushner had "very good" talks on Iran and more were planned 
for this week. But the Republican president kept up the pressure, warning that 
if the country didn't make a deal over its nuclear program, "the consequences 
are very steep."

   Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi made similar comments, saying there 
will be consultations on "next steps" but cautioning that the level of mistrust 
between the two longtime adversaries remains a "serious challenge facing the 
negotiations."

   He also signaled that Iran would stick to its position that it must be able 
to enrich uranium -- a major point of contention with Trump.

   "The readouts from both President Trump and from the Iranians has been 
cautiously optimistic, not so much as there's light at the end of the tunnel, 
but they may be able to build a tunnel," Rafati said.

   Netanyahu met with Witkoff and Kushner shortly after arriving in Washington 
on Tuesday evening and they gave him an update on the talks held with Iran in 
Oman, the prime minister's office said. He was to meet with Secretary of State 
Marco Rubio on Wednesday morning, the State Department said.

   Araghchi said in November that Iran was no longer enriching uranium due to 
the damage from last year's war.

   Before the June war, Iran had been enriching uranium up to 60% purity, a 
short, technical step away from weapons-grade levels. The U.N. nuclear watchdog 
-- the International Atomic Energy Agency -- had said Iran was the only country 
in the world to enrich to that level that wasn't armed with the bomb.

   Iran has been refusing requests by the IAEA to inspect the sites bombed in 
the June war. Even before that, Iran has restricted IAEA inspections since 
Trump's decision in 2018 to unilaterally withdraw the U.S. from Iran's 2015 
nuclear deal with world powers.