Donald Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu disagreed in a phone call on Saturday, 31 October 2026, over the course of US negotiations with the Islamic Republic and when to resume military operations. An Israeli source described the call as "tough" and a US source as "direct". Netanyahu wants strikes on the Islamic Republic to resume immediately after the US midterm elections on Tuesday, 3 November.
According to the two sources, Trump currently prefers to give negotiations a chance, a position that has worried the Israeli prime minister. The White House and the Israeli Prime Minister's Office declined to comment on the content of the call. The Wall Street Journal first reported that the call took place, without disclosing its details.
Trump: no rush, but one or two sites remain
Trump told reporters on Saturday that talks with the Islamic Republic were going well and that he was in no great hurry to resume strikes. At the same time he said the Islamic Republic could not be trusted, because it had repeatedly reached agreement and then backed out. The US president added that one or two of the Islamic Republic's nuclear sites, including a facility inside Kuh-e Kolang (Pickaxe Mountain), still had to be dealt with and that the US had a plan for it, a position DIAR reported earlier.
Washington is pursuing two tracks at once: seeking an agreement that would open the way to direct negotiations, and preparing to resume large-scale military operations after the congressional elections. The US had earlier warned several Arab Gulf states to be ready for a new round of strikes after these elections.
Qatari mediation and the Vance letter
Qatari mediators met officials of the Islamic Republic on Sunday, 1 November, for the third day in a row. Last week US Vice President JD Vance sent a message about resuming negotiations to Mohsen Rezaei, secretary of the Islamic Republic's Supreme National Security Council, the highest-level US communication with Tehran in several months. Abbas Araghchi said on Sunday that no agreement had yet been reached and that there were no plans to meet the US delegation.
Netanyahu wants an immediate strike after the US election, while Trump is giving negotiations a chance for now.
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