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link https:/https://edition.cnn.com/2026/05/20/politics/trump-netanyahu-tense-phone-call?iid=cnn_buildContentRecirc_end_recirc&recs_exp=up-next-article-end&tenant_id=related.en
Trump and Netanyahu diverge on Iran war’s future in tense phone call
It wasn’t their first conversation in recent days. When the two leaders spoke on Sunday, Trump shared that he was likely to move forward with new targeted attacks on Iran early in the week, the official said — an operation that, as CNN has previously reported, was expected to get a new name: Operation Sledgehammer.
But roughly 24 hours after that initial conversation, Trump announced he was halting strikes that he said were planned for Tuesday at the request of allies in the Persian Gulf: Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. In the days since, the gulf nations have been in close contact with White House and Pakistani mediators in working on a framework that could further diplomatic talks, the US official and a person familiar with the situation said.
“We’re in the final stages of Iran. We’ll see what happens,” Trump told reporters Wednesday morning about efforts to secure a deal.
“We’ll either have a deal or we’re going to do some things that are a little bit nasty,” he went on. “But hopefully that won’t happen.”
The ongoing negotiations have frustrated the Israeli prime minister, who has long advocated for a more aggressive approach in dealing with Tehran. Netanyahu has argued that a delay only benefits the Iranians, according to Trump officials and Israeli sources.
Netanyahu made his disappointment known on Tuesday, telling Trump that he believed delaying the expected attacks was a mistake and that the president should continue as planned, the US official said.
An Israeli source said Netanyahu is skeptical talks will produce an agreement, particularly because, to date, Iran has refused to give up its enriched uranium — a sticking point for the US. During the hour-long conversation, Netanyahu pushed for a resumption of military action, an Israeli source familiar with the matter said. The divergence was clear: Trump wants to see if a deal can be reached, but Netanyahu was expecting something else, an Israeli official said.
Reuters, citing two unnamed senior Iranian sources, reported that Iranian Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei has issued a directive that the country’s near-weapons-grade uranium stockpile must not be sent abroad. But Iranian state and state-affiliated media have yet to report on such a demand, and a US official said the directive had not been communicated to the White House as of Thursday morning in the US.
Asked on Thursday whether Iran can keep its highly enriched uranium, Trump told reporters: “No, no, we get the highly enriched. We will get it.”
“We don’t need it; we don’t want it,” he added. “We’ll probably destroy it after we get it, but we’re not going to let them have it.”
Iran ‘reviewing’ US proposal
The Israeli concern after that Tuesday phone call extended to officials around Netanyahu, another Israeli source told CNN. There is a strong desire in the upper echelons of the Israeli government for renewed military action, this source said, and mounting frustration that Trump is continuing to allow what they say is Iran’s diplomatic foot-dragging.
But Netanyahu’s frustration with the US approach — and specifically Trump making threats only to eventually press pause — is not entirely new, sources familiar with their conversations said. US officials in the past have acknowledged differing objectives between the US and Israel when it comes to the war.
Asked what he told the prime minister the night before, Trump suggested Wednesday he’s in the driver’s seat.
“He’ll do whatever I want him to do,” the US president said.
And despite Netanyahu’s pressure to return to active combat, Trump, for now, has continued to push for a diplomatic agreement, claiming Wednesday that things with Iran are “right on the borderline” and that it’s worth giving diplomacy a few more days if it saves lives.
Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson said Wednesday that Tehran and Washington have continued to exchange messages through Pakistan, according to the state-affiliated Nour News outlet.
“Based on Iran’s initial 14-point text, messages have been exchanged on several occasions, and we have received the American side’s viewpoints and are currently reviewing them,” spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei said.
Pakistan’s army chief, Field Marshal Asim Munir, will travel to Tehran on Thursday as part of ongoing mediation efforts between the US and Iran, according to the semi-official Iranian Students’ News Agency.
Pakistan has played a central role in working to find a diplomatic solution to the conflict, including hosting high-level, face-to-face talks between US Vice President JD Vance and Iranian parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf in April.
“There’s some good signs, but I don’t want to be overly optimistic,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio told reporters in Florida on Thursday before departing for Sweden and India.
“If we can get a good deal done, that would be great. I’m not here to tell you that it’s going to happen for sure,” he added.
It’s unclear which, if any, of the key gaps between the two sides have been narrowed. Iran has not backed away from its core demands, and issues around its nuclear program and frozen assets had remained unresolved earlier this week, a regional source said.
And Trump has repeatedly indicated that military action remains an option.
“If we don’t get the right answers, it goes very quickly. We’re all ready to go,” he said Wednesday.
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