US President Donald Trump is set to host Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Washington on Wednesday (local time), amid growing regional tensions, AFP reported.
Netanyahu is likely to press Trump, asking him to adopt a stricter stance over Iran’s ballistic missile program during the next round of talks. The upcoming meeting will be the sixth between the two leaders since Trump took office in January 2025, and it comes days after officials from Tehran and Washington held talks in Muscat, the capital of Oman, following which Trump said another round of talks will take place.
The report, citing a statement from Netanyahu’s office, said he will highlight Israel’s concerns over Iran’s missile arsenal in discussions with Trump, along with Tehran’s nuclear programme. It further said that Netanyahu “believes any negotiations must include limitations on ballistic missiles and a halting of the support for the Iranian axis.”
Iran warns of ‘destructive influence’ over Netanyahu’s visit
Following the announcement of the meeting between Trump and Netanyahu on Wednesday, Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson warned that Netanyahu’s visit would have a “destructive” influence on diplomacy that is “detrimental to the region”.
In a weekly press briefing, the spokesperson said, “Our negotiating party is America. It is up to America to decide to act independently of the pressures and destructive influences that are detrimental to the region,” the Times of Israel reported. The Iranian spokesperson further added, “The Zionist regime has repeatedly, as a saboteur, shown that it opposes any diplomatic process in our region that leads to peace.”
US-Iran talks
In a bid to revive diplomacy, Washington and Tehran officials held negotiations in Oman on 6 February. The talks came amid the buildup of a US military presence in West Asia in response to Iran’s violent repression of nationwide anti-government protests that took place in December 2025 and continued in January.
Following the talks between the two sides, Trump said that the US had “very good” talks on Iran, adding that more were planned for next week. However, he continued with the pressure on Tehran, stating that if they did not make a deal over its nuclear programme, “the consequences are very steep”.
Iran has so far refused to broaden discussions with the US beyond its nuclear programme, even as reports indicate that Washington is seeking to include Tehran’s ballistic missile activities and its backing of militant groups in the talks.
In recent weeks, amid growing unrest in Tehran, Trump threatened to bomb Iran if the two sides did not reach a deal. Washington sent thousands of troops, including an aircraft carrier, along with other warships as well as fighter jets. Iran, on the other hand, vowed to respond to the US’ attack with force and threatened to strike the US’ military assets in West Asia and Israel, BBC reported.
The talks between Iran and the US come months after Washington launched a strike and targeted Tehran’s nuclear facilities in June 2025. The strikes came at the time when Israel launched a “preemptive strike” on Iran and targeted its nuclear facilities. Following the strike carried out by US B-2 bombers, Trump claimed that the nuclear facilities suffered a major blow, a claim which was consistently denied by Iranian authorities.
