Washington (Monitoring Desk): US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu have reportedly had a heated disagreement during a telephone conversation over the possibility of resuming military action against Iran. While the Israeli prime minister is pressuring the US president to restart attacks on Iran, Washington and Gulf countries are favouring a diplomatic solution to the conflict.
The Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth, citing sources familiar with the matter, reported that differences between the two leaders over resuming military operations against Iran intensified during a conversation held over the weekend. One source described the discussion as extremely acrimonious, saying that voices were raised during the call.
However, Netanyahu’s office dismissed reports of disagreements and bitter exchanges between the two leaders as baseless. A senior Israeli official confirmed that the telephone conversation had taken place but said neither leader had adopted an aggressive or hostile tone.
Earlier, the Financial Times reported that Netanyahu was contacting Trump on a daily basis and urging him to resume military strikes against Iran. According to the report, leaders of Arab and Muslim countries have expressed concern over the Israeli prime minister’s efforts and are urging the US president to pursue diplomacy instead of military action.
On Monday, US President Donald Trump said Gulf allies, including Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Kuwait, were strongly opposed to any new military action against Iran. He said positive progress was being made towards resolving the conflict, making the possibility of the United States launching another large-scale military operation appear unlikely.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio also said on Tuesday that Washington did not currently see a need to resume large-scale military operations. According to him, economic sanctions imposed on Iran were achieving their objectives. He made it clear that the United States would maintain economic pressure on Tehran, but warned that the US military was ready to respond if Iran crossed Washington’s established red lines.
Meanwhile, Qatari mediators said on Tuesday that they had received initially positive responses from both Washington and Tehran. However, uncertainty remained over the prospects of reaching a final agreement.
It may be recalled that the United States and Israel launched a joint military operation against Iran on February 28. Despite subsequent diplomatic contacts and the signing of a framework memorandum of understanding between Washington and Tehran, negotiations have yet to produce a comprehensive peace agreement.