On Monday, President Donald Trump told reporters that the U.S. is engaging in direct talks with Iran on nuclear weapons and announced that there would be a “very big meeting” with high-level officials on April 12.
Trump made the comments while taking questions alongside Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who visited the White House to discuss Gaza, tariffs, and the alleged nuclear threat of Iran.
“I think everybody agrees that doing a deal would be preferable to doing the obvious,” said Trump. “And the obvious is not something that I want to be involved with, or, frankly, that Israel wants to be involved with if they can avoid it. So, we’re going to see if we can avoid it. But it’s getting to be very dangerous territory. And hopefully those talks will be successful. And I think it would be in Iran’s best interests if they are successful.”
“If the talks aren’t successful with Iran, I think Iran is going to be in great danger,” he continued. “And I hate to say it, great danger, because they can’t have a nuclear weapon. You know, it’s not a complicated formula. Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon. That’s all there is.”
In recent days, Republican lawmakers have introduced a flurry of legislation aimed at strengthening the U.S. sanctions on Iran. Trump has threatened to bomb the country if a deal is not reached, and the administration has been making a series of aggressive moves toward Iran in the region.
An Israeli official told Axios that Netanyahu wants “the Libya model” in Iran, which amounts to a full dismantling of its nuclear program.
In a recent interview, Arkansas Senator Tom Cotton (R-AK) said that Trump also wants a “prefers a deal like Libya cut with the United States in 2003.”
Less than a decade after Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi gave up a nuclear deterrent, he was ousted from power via a NATO-backed military intervention. He was brutally killed by a rebel militia.
In a Twitter thread, Center for International Policy Senior Fellow Sina Toossi said Trump could either be “jumping the gun and prematurely revealing quiet diplomacy that’s still in its early stages” or “deliberately blurring the line between indirect messaging and actual negotiations to claim momentum and create pressure.”
Quincy Institute Executive VP Trita Parsi laid out what he sees as the most important variables of the apparent talks.
“If [Trump] seeks to dismantle the Iranian nuclear program Libya-style, in addition to closing down Iran’s missile program and Tehran’s relations with its regional partners, then diplomacy will most likely be dead on arrival,” wrote Parsi.
“If Trump’s strategy is centered on achieving a verification-based deal that prevents an Iranian bomb – his only red line – then there is reason to be optimistic about upcoming talks,” he continued.
Tariffs
During the Oval Office session, Netanyahu said that Israel would eliminate its trade deficit with the United States in response to Trump’s tariffs and said that the country could serve as a “model” for other governments.
“I can tell you that I am the first international leader, the first foreign leader, who will meet with President Trump on the issue, which is so important to the Israeli economy,” said the Prime Minister. “There is a long line of leaders who want this regarding their economies. I think that it reflects the special personal link, as well as the special ties between the U.S. and Israel.”
Gaza
On Gaza, Netanyahu said that Israel was “committed to getting all the hostages out, but also eliminating the evil tyranny of Hamas in Gaza and enabling the people of Gaza to freely make a choice to go wherever they want.”
He also praised Trump’s proposed plan of ethnically cleansing Gaza, calling it a “bold vision.”
Trump reiterated his vision, suggesting that “a peace force like the United States there controlling and owning the Gaza Strip would be a good thing.”
“You cut to the chase,” Netanyahu told Trump. “You see things others refuse to see. You say things others refuse to say, and after the jaws dropped, people scratch their heads and they say, ‘You know, he’s right.’”
I’ll hazard a guess. The negotiators will propose some sort of deal. Trump will then wreck it trying to add terms to it to make it look like it’s “his” deal.