Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has warned that military action against Iran could become unavoidable if ongoing talks between Washington and Tehran fail to produce results.

Advertisment

In a video statement released on Tuesday after meeting with US President Donald Trump, Netanyahu said, “We agree that Iran will not have nuclear weapons. This can be done in an agreement, but only if... they go in, blow up (Iran's) facilities, dismantle all the equipment, under American supervision.” He added, “If talks drag on, then the military option becomes inevitable.”

Trump confirms direct talks with Iran

Earlier on Monday, President Trump revealed that the US and Iran would hold direct negotiations on Saturday over a possible new nuclear agreement. “We’re having direct talks with Iran and they’ve started, it'll go on Saturday. We have a very big meeting and we’ll see what can happen,” Trump said from the Oval Office.

Advertisment

Trump, during his first presidency, withdrew the US from the 2015 nuclear agreement during his first term, described the upcoming talks as being at a “very high level”. He added, “Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon, and if the talks aren’t successful, I actually think it'll be a very bad day for Iran.”

Iran says talks will be indirect

Following Trump's announcement, Iran’s foreign minister said that the negotiations set to take place in Oman would be “indirect”, but admitted that they could present “as much an opportunity as... a test”.

Advertisment

Iran has long claimed that its nuclear programme is peaceful. However, it has steadily increased its uranium enrichment since the US reinstated sanctions seven years ago. The country is now believed to have enough enriched uranium to build several nuclear weapons, according to recent assessments.

Netanyahu’s comments follow his meeting with Trump at the White House, where both leaders reaffirmed their commitment to stopping Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons. Netanyahu has previously threatened military strikes against Iranian nuclear sites.

Trump said, “I think everybody agrees that doing a deal would be preferable to doing the obvious. 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.”

He added, “But it's getting to be very dangerous territory, and hopefully those talks will be successful.”

(With inputs from agencies)