Netanyahu races to White House, Trump faces pressure on Iran missiles

Netanyahu pushes Trump to act tough on Iran’s nuclear and missile programs—diplomacy or conflict?

In a swift diplomatic build-up, Benjamin Netanyahu flew to Washington on Wednesday, seeking to pressure President Donald Trump to take a harder line against Iran’s nuclear and missile development plans. The visit will be Netanyahu’s sixth to the White House since Trump came to office, and it comes as diplomatic talks between Washington and Tehran resume in Oman, with an undercurrent of tension.

The 11 a.m. meeting in the White House is replete with implications. A day prior to the meeting, Trump intimated that he is contemplating dispatching a second aircraft strike force to the region. Trump told Axios in an interview that “Either we will make a deal or we will have to do something very tough like last time,” adding that any agreement must be one that guarantees “no nuclear weapons, no missiles.”

He is very clear about his intentions, to tell Obama to take a stronger stance not only against Iran’s nuclear ambitions, but also against its ballistic missiles. He said, “I will present to the president our views regarding the principles for the negotiations.” He added that his office emphasized that the missile threat, as highlighted during last year’s unprecedented 12-day war with Iran, would be a major point. The missile attacks from Iran during that war came in a series, striking Israeli military targets, as well as emphasizing how grave the situation is.

The timing is interesting too: Mr. Netanyahu was due to attend a February 19 meeting at the White House of Mr. Trump’s “Board of Peace” on the Gaza issue, but he has moved forward the trip to synchronize it with the sensitive Iran negotiations. Iran has issued a warning about “destructive influences” even before the trip.

Aside from the Iranian nuclear arrangement, the leaders are seen to tackle the issues of Gaza and other regional concerns, including the emerging global worry regarding Israel’s rising dominance over some parts of the occupied West Bank. Just a day before the start of the meeting with Netanyahu, Israel’s security cabinet was said to have adopted a policy permitting Israeli settlers to buy land directly from Palestinians. As tensions remain at a boiling point and the eyes of the world are currently on Washington, Netanyahu’s visit is turning into a moment of great significance in Middle East peace talks. Will Trump welcome Netanyahu’s hardline stance, or will diplomacy move into place and mitigate the possibility ofor will diplomacy hold sway over the specter of conflict? The world waits for answers as the meeting begins.