Netanyahu, Trump weigh options as Iran warns of ‘decisive blow’

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu convened a limited security meeting on Sunday evening with Defense Minister Israel Katz, Israel Defense Forces Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir and Mossad Director David Barnea to discuss rising tensions with Iran.

The meeting followed Zamir’s talks in Washington with senior U.S. defense officials over the weekend, which focused on coordinating security policy and contingency planning between Israel and the United States amid increased U.S.-Iran friction.

Katz’s office said on Sunday evening that the defense minister met with Zamir to review the regional situation and the IDF’s operational readiness “for any scenario.”

Trump downplays Khamenei’s ‘regional war’ warning

“Why wouldn’t he say that? Of course he’s going to say that,” U.S. President Donald Trump said on Sunday in response to Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei’s remarks earlier in the day that an American attack on Iran could spark a regional war.

“But we have the biggest, most powerful ships in the world over there. Very close, a couple of days,” the president continued. The U.S. has deployed the USS Abraham Lincoln carrier strike group and accompanying warships to Middle Eastern waters as part of a broader naval “armada” moving toward the Gulf.

Speaking to reporters at his Mar-a-Lago estate in South Florida, Trump expressed his hope for an agreement with the regime in Tehran, adding that “if we don’t make a deal, then we’ll find out whether or not he was right.”

In a series of X posts that echoed similar comments made earlier in the day at Tehran’s Imam Khomeini mosque, Khamenei wrote that “the Americans should know if they start a war, this time it will be a regional war,” adding that Iran “is not the initiator of war” and “does not seek to attack any country,” while warning that anyone who tries to harm it “will face a decisive blow from the Iranian nation.”

Khamenei later escalated his rhetoric, saying Iran “stands firm and will continue to stand firm” and will “put an end to the United States’ mischief and harassment.”

The Islamist ruler of 90 million Iranians claimed that the U.S. wants to confiscate the country’s abundant natural resources. Trump has warned of possible military action, saying Iran must abandon nuclear ambitions and stop killing protesters, while U.S. officials and analysts say Washington is also seeking leverage over Tehran’s missile program and security apparatus.

According to Sunday’s update from the U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency, 6,425 protesters have been confirmed killed since the uprising began on Dec. 28. A further 11,021 civilians were wounded, and there have been summonses in 11,046 cases.

A total of 11,280 cases remain under review.

Tehran’s FM ‘confident’ on deal

Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told CNN on Sunday that he is “confident that we can achieve a deal” with Washington on the regime’s nuclear program.

Speaking to the network’s international correspondent Frederik Pleitgen, Tehran’s top diplomat claimed that there are “certain elements, certain parties who want to drag President Trump into this war for their own benefits.”

Araghchi said that “unfortunately, we have lost our trust in the U.S. as a negotiating partner,” and that this needs to be overcome. He would not commit to direct talks, emphasizing that the “substance” was more important than the form of the negotiations.

Trump said on Saturday that Iran is “talking seriously” with the United States. Tehran is “talking to us, and we’ll see if we can do something. Otherwise, we’ll see what happens. … We have a big fleet heading out there,” Trump told Fox News. “They are negotiating.”

He later told reporters aboard Air Force One that “they are talking to us—seriously talking.”

Araghchi said that “we fully agree” with Trump’s condition of “no nuclear weapons,” asserting that it “could be a very good deal,” and that in return Iran would want the lifting of sanctions.

Graham: ‘Defining moment in his presidency’

U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) said on Sunday that the Iran situation is “the defining moment” in Trump’s presidency.

“Ronald Reagan went to the Berlin Wall and he said, ‘Tear down this wall.’ He didn’t say, ‘Could you make it lower.’ When asked about what the protesters should do, President Trump said, ‘Keep protesting, help is on the way,’” the lawmaker explained in an interview with Fox News.

Graham predicted “a hundred years of chaos” if the Iranian regime is still standing “the day after, if we pull the plug,” adding that he has “every confidence” that the president will fulfill his promise to the Iranian people.

“If this regime falls, Hamas, Hezbollah, the Houthis—they all go. It’d be the biggest change since the fall of the Berlin Wall,” the senator said, calling Trump “Ronald Reagan plus” while warning that “the one thing you can’t do as president [is] talk like Reagan and act like Obama.

“There’s no deal to be done here. These people are not trustworthy. The protesters in the street are not protesting for a better nuclear deal, they’re protesting for a better life, and if they win the day, we have a chance to have friends with the people of Iran. The ayatollah will never be our friend; he’s a religious Nazi.”

The senior Republican then spoke directly to Trump via the camera: “You said help is on the way. That has to be real. It has to be real soon. Mr. President, the people of Iran are begging you to be on their side. You have done it so good. You are Reagan plus. This is the defining moment in your presidency. Stand by the people. The ayatollah falls. The region changes. Bigger than the fall of the Berlin Wall. No more international terrorists. … Bring this regime down, because the people want it down.

“You don’t have to invade the country, but ‘help on the way’ means military strikes against the infrastructure that is killing the Iranian people. Go after the ones who are killing the people. Put this regime on notice, we’re never going to let up. Strangle their economy. It will fall, the people will take over and over time we will have a friend in Iran, not an enemy.”

© JNS