Netanyahu threatens to upend US Iran nuclear talks with strike

Benjamin Netanyahu is threatening to disrupt talks on a nuclear deal between the United States and Iran by striking Iran's main nuclear enrichment facility.

Israeli officials are concerned that US President Donald Trump is so eager to reach a deal with Iran that he would allow Tehran to keep its nuclear enrichment facilities, according to a report from the New York Times.

The report said that Israel is particularly concerned about the possibility of any interim deal that would allow Iran to maintain its nuclear facilities for months or even years while a final agreement was reached.

US officials were concerned that Israel could decide to strike Iran with little warning, and said US intelligence estimated that Israel could mount an attack on Iran in as little as seven hours.

The report added that Israeli officials had warned their US counterparts that Netanyahu could order a strike on Iran even if a successful diplomatic agreement is reached.

Israel rejected the report, with Netanyahu's office issuing a statement in response to the article saying: "Fake news".

The newspaper said that Netanyahu's minister of strategic affairs Ron Dermer and David Barnea, head of the foreign intelligence agency Mossad, met Trump's special envoy Steve Witkoff in Rome on Friday.

The two then travelled to Washington for a meeting on Monday with CIA director John Ratcliffe before Dermer met Witkoff again on Tuesday.

One of the main sticking points in the talks between US and Iranian officials has been the US insistence that Iran must give up its nuclear enrichment facilities, a demand that Iran rejects.

On Monday, US Homeland Secretary Kristi Noem said she had had a "very candid conversation" with Netanyahu on the negotiations with Iran.

She said she had told the Israeli prime minister that Trump had asked her to convey "how important it is that we stay united and let this process play out".

Trump bypassed Israel on his trip to the Middle East this month and has made policy announcements that have shaken Israel's assumptions about its relations with the US.

Netanyahu has dismissed speculation about a falling out with the US administration, while Trump has also brushed off any suggestion of a break.

(Reuters and The New Arab Staff)