Trump holds call with Netanyahu amid preparations to renew strikes on Iran — report

President Donald Trump spoke by telephone with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Saturday as Washington evaluated potential renewed military action against Iran, according to The Wall Street Journal. This conversation followed a White House meeting earlier in the week where Trump consulted senior military leadership regarding strategic options for resuming major combat operations.

Speaking to reporters in Florida, Trump claimed the United States has knocked out much of Iran's military, including its navy, air force, and manufacturing capabilities. He stated that while negotiations are "going fine," he questioned Tehran's reliability, noting that Iran has repeatedly backed out of agreements. Trump said the U.S. still needs to "take care of" one or two sites, specifically mentioning the suspected nuclear site known as Pickaxe Mountain, which he said could be addressed "all very quickly."

In the midst of these tensions, Secretary of State Marco Rubio affirmed that diplomatic talks involving Iran have continued without interruption, though he did not provide a deadline or assess their progress. Rubio noted that Trump has not yet made a decision on further military action and stated that Washington remains open to a diplomatic solution. Meanwhile, Qatari mediators arrived in Tehran on Friday in an attempt to broker a temporary agreement between the United States and Iran.

Brief written by urgent.news from The Times of Israel, The Korea Times, Middle East Eye, The Economic Times, Ajel English — 5 reports on this story. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.