President Trump spoke with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu by phone Thursday evening to discuss the situation in Iran, according to two sources with knowledge of the call.
Why it matters: It's their second call in two days as Trump reviews his options for a possible military strike or diplomatic negotiations with an Iranian regime rocked by widespread protest and upheaval.
- The White House and the prime minister's office declined to comment.
Driving the news: During their first call on Wednesday, Netanyahu asked Trump to hold off on military action against Iran to give Israel more time to prepare for potential Iranian retaliation.
- It was one of the reasons Trump decided to delay orders for the U.S. military to move forward with a strike against Iran.
- "Nobody convinced me. I convinced myself," Trump told reporters on Friday when asked whether concerns from Israel and Gulf countries led him to delay the strike.
- Trump said the fact the Iranian regime cancelled executions of protesters "had a big impact" on his decision.
- U.S. officials say military action is still on the table if Iran resumes killing protesters. Israeli officials think that despite the delay, a U.S. military strike could take place in the coming days.
State of play: On Thursday, Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke on the phone with both Netanyahu and the Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian and offered to mediate between the countries in order to de-escalate the situation, the Kremlin said.
What we're watching: Netanyahu sent the head of the Mossad spy agency. David Barnea, to the U.S. for consultations on Iran. Barnea is expected to meet White House envoy Steve Witkoff in Miami on Friday.
The big picture: At a conference of the Israeli-American Council in Miami on Thursday night, Witkoff said he hopes for a diplomatic solution with Iran.
- He noted that any deal will have to address Iran's uranium enrichment, reduce its inventory of ballistic missiles, take the Iranian stockpile of 2000 kilograms of enriched uranium out of the country and stop Iranian support for its proxies in the region.
- "I think if Iran, which is stumbling it its economy. It's a pretty serious situation. Inflation is well north of 50%," Witkoff said. "If they want to come back to the League of Nations, we can solve those four problems diplomatically and that would be a good resolution and the alternative will be a bad one."
Editor's note: This story has been updated with comments from Trump.
