ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq - US President Donald Trump said that he "insisted that negotiations with Iran continue to see whether or not a deal can be consummated" during a Wednesday meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the White House, citing the joint US-Israeli military campaign against Iran in June 2025 as an example of what may happen should an agreement not be reached.

Iran was pegged as a topic of great importance ahead of the high-level talks, coming after Washington and Tehran restarted indirect negotiations regarding the latter's nuclear program and bellicose rhetoric by the US president threatening another round of military intervention.

"There was nothing definitive reached other than I insisted that negotiations with Iran continue to see whether or not a deal can be consummated," Trump wrote on Truth Social following the meeting, which stretched over three hours.

"If it can, I let [Netanyahu] know that it will be a preference. If not, we will just have to see what the outcome will be."

For his part, the Israeli premier "insisted on the security needs of the state of Israel in relation to the negotiations," according to a statement from his office, which noted that both sides agreed to "coordinate and remain in contact."

Iran has repeatedly asserted that the Netanyahu government seeks to draw the Trump administration into a war with their country, often tailoring statements and social media posts to express a willingness to negotiate with the US while lambasting Israeli influence over Washington.

"Israel has always sought to drag the US into fighting wars on its behalf," Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Aragchi wrote on X in January. The following month, he uploaded excerpts of an opinion piece written by Netanyahu in the run-up to the 2003 US-led invasion of Iraq titled "The Case for Toppling Saddam [Hussein]."

"Remember this sage advice by 'Mr. America-Last'? Can you really fathom what his ill advice cost the United States?" the Iranian top diplomat wrote in the caption, refering Trump's frequent self-characterization as an "America First" leader.

The Omani capital of Muscat on Friday hosted top Iranian and American diplomats for talks regarding Iran's nuclear program, marking a tentative process that was disrupted in June 2025 when Israel launched a full-fledged military campaign that eventually saw US participation.

Speaking after the talks, Trump stressed that Tehran can have "no nuclear weapons," claiming that Iran was unwilling to reach a deal before but is now "willing to do much more than they would have a year and a half ago."

In his Wednesday Truth Social post, the US president said that Iran paid the consequences for not making a deal via the brief conflict, asserting, "That did not work out well for them."

Both Trump and Araghchi hailed the progress made during the first round of the renewed talks, though the former's repeated motif of highlighting the large US naval armada en route to the region, as well as threats to intervene on behalf of Iranian protesters who have faced a brutal crackdown by the ruling auhorities, and the latter's professed difficulty in trusting the goodwill of the US side remain significant complications to securing an agreement.