Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told US envoy Steve Witkoff during a meeting in Jerusalem on Tuesday that Iran cannot be trusted, as Witkoff prepares for potential talks with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi.
“Ahead of Envoy Witkoff’s departure to meet with a representative of Iran, the Prime Minister clarified his position that Iran has proven time and again that its promises cannot be relied upon,” Netanyahu’s office said in a statement after the talks.
According to Haaretz, President Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, also attended the meeting. While holding no official position in the Trump administration, Kushner has been deeply involved in US engagement with Israel and negotiations on Gaza.
Initial reports said Witkoff and Araghchi were expected to meet in Turkey, but the venue may now be changed to Oman. Axios reported on Tuesday that Iran was making new demands related to the talks, but the claim was contradicted by Ali Vaez of the Crisis Group.
“A senior Iranian official just told me that this report is not accurate: ‘Both sides are deciding together on the best format and venue,’ he noted,” Vaez wrote on X in response to the Axios report. The White House also said that talks are still planned for this Friday.
It’s unlikely that a deal between the US and Iran can be reached as the Trump administration is demanding that any agreement must include limits on Tehran’s missile program, a condition Iranian officials have said is a non-starter.
President Trump has been threatening to bomb Iran for weeks and has ordered a major US military buildup in the region, which has involved the deployment of the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln and its strike group and additional air defenses.
The president is now pushing the idea of some sort of deal with Iran, but before the launch of the 12-Day War, he was also calling for diplomacy as part of a deception campaign to keep Tehran offguard. Israel launched the war on June 13, a few days before the US and Iran were scheduled to hold another round of nuclear talks. Hours before the first Israeli airstrikes hit, President Trump said he was committed to diplomacy with Iran.
