According to a report by the American news site Axios on November 1st, a source in Israel and a source in the United States revealed that on October 31st, U.S. President Trump had a frank conversation with Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu, during which they discussed negotiations between the United States and Iran, as well as when military actions against Iran should be resumed.
Sources say that Netanyahu is urging Trump to take action against Iran immediately after the U.S. midterm elections on November 3rd. However, Trump currently wishes to engage in negotiations – something that Netanyahu is concerned about.
Israeli sources said the call was “difficult”; American sources described the call as “direct”.
According to an article in The Israel Times dated November 1st, Trump confirmed that he had a phone call with Netanyahu on October 31st, and described the conversation as 'a very good one'.
But aside from confirming that Iran was one of the topics of discussion, Trump refused to disclose the specific content of the conversation.
Axios pointed out that Trump is currently adopting a dual strategy towards Iran: on one hand, he is seeking an agreement to resume peace negotiations, and on the other hand, he is preparing for possible large-scale military operations after the mid-term elections.
It is reported that Vice President Biden previously sent a letter to Mohsen Rezai, Secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, attempting to restart negotiations.
On October 31, Trump told reporters that the United States has destroyed most of Iran's military forces, including the navy, air force, air defense systems, as well as a large amount of military equipment and manufacturing capabilities. However, there are still “one or two locations” that need to be addressed.
We still need to handle one or two locations, but we can get it done within 10 minutes. Trump said. He particularly mentioned the "Heishan" underground nuclear facility near Iran's Natanz nuclear facility, claiming the US side can quickly complete the strike.
Trump also said that the negotiations between the United States and Iran are "going well," but Iran is "not very reliable."
According to Axios, Qatar’s mediator met with Iranian officials for three consecutive days starting November 1st, trying to reach an agreement to resume direct negotiations between the United States and Iran.
On that day, Iranian Foreign Minister Al-Aghamzi stated that no agreement had been reached yet. He emphasized that the agreement depends on the U.S. response to Iran's issues.
