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Qatar of holding three of its pilotsXi calls for shift to prevention as floods batter ChinaVenezuela frees 131 more political prisonersMore Syrians in Germany lose refugee protectionAudit finds gaps in Taiwan's counter-drone defencesIndia drafts rules to open nuclear power to private firmsHichilema takes early lead as Zambian count resumesParis prosecutors open investigation into tax portal hackReport details leverage behind Situational Awareness lossesArgentina has lost 30,633 companies under MileiAt least five dead in Indiana floodingIran detains two French diplomats over alleged infiltrationCanadian petition to expel US ambassador passes 170,000 signaturesIndia raises $50bn from its diaspora and ends swap facility earlyOpaque start-ups build erotic AI industry from Cyprus and MaltaBritain's biggest EV battery plant shelves expansion as Jaguar Land Rover talks stallThird drone debris find in a day on Turkish coastsForecasters put 95 percent odds on a very strong El NiñoSecondhand booksellers suspect AI firms behind bulk ordersEtna alert lowered as Catania airport reopensFuneral held for Indigenous girl whose death sparked outback riotsIran rejects US claim to Hormuz as ship attacks mount600 drones head for Moscow as Russia strikes Kyiv and Kryvyi RihDeath toll passes 50 after magnitude 7.7 quake off FloresIsraeli strikes kill 11 in south Lebanon, deadliest since June truceColombia asks Trump to suspend tariffs as quake toll climbsRhine hits record low at Kaub as Hungary sinks barges to cool reactorUS readies unprecedented economic measures against IranUS boat strikes pass 200 dead as Ecuadorean fishermen describe attacksBond traders struggle to price $70bn of credit backstops behind AI buildoutAlibaba says its open AI models passed three billion downloadsDeath toll rises to 68 after Lake Kariba ferry sinkingTaliban mark five years in power as UN warns of rights crisisEU aircraft join fight against Belgium's record wildfireUS presses Netanyahu over settlers as Qusra homes are occupiedMokha port halts operations as Houthi missiles hit MaribSeoul proposes talks to end the Korean war as North rejects drillsChina-led perovskite solar plant outperforms silicon in three-month field testOpenAI revenue run rate passes $40bn as revenue chief departsHamas leader in Cairo as Kushner trip nearsWHO says Congo's Ebola outbreak is outpacing the responseTurkish parliament passes amnesty law for PKK membersMorocco detains scores near Ceuta as feared mass crossing fails to materialiseChina publishes ecology reports to bolster South China Sea claimsMyanmar says more than 300,000 Rohingya verified for repatriationPetrobras detects signs of oil off the mouth of the AmazonChina condemns Japanese politicians' moves at Yasukuni ShrineUS inflation cools as wages again lag behind pricesModi offers free exam coaching after youth protests in IndiaOil from grounded Russian tanker reaches Oman's coastPanama Canal cuts draught again as Mexico pitches rival corridorUkraine's idle ports cost $1.75bn as farm exports fallFormer Chinese premier Zhu Rongji diesAt least 20 killed in communal clashes in central NigeriaIran accuses Qatar of holding three of its pilotsXi calls for shift to prevention as floods batter ChinaVenezuela frees 131 more political prisonersMore Syrians in Germany lose refugee protectionAudit finds gaps in Taiwan's counter-drone defencesIndia drafts rules to open nuclear power to private firmsHichilema takes early lead as Zambian count resumesParis prosecutors open investigation into tax portal hackReport details leverage behind Situational Awareness lossesArgentina has lost 30,633 companies under MileiAt least five dead in Indiana floodingIran detains two French diplomats over alleged infiltrationCanadian petition to expel US ambassador passes 170,000 signaturesIndia raises $50bn from its diaspora and ends swap facility earlyOpaque start-ups build erotic AI industry from Cyprus and MaltaBritain's biggest EV battery plant shelves expansion as Jaguar Land Rover talks stallThird drone debris find in a day on Turkish coastsForecasters put 95 percent odds on a very strong El NiñoSecondhand booksellers suspect AI firms behind bulk ordersEtna alert lowered as Catania airport reopensFuneral held for Indigenous girl whose death sparked outback riots
Bota
Symbolic image: Trump and Netanyahu meet at the White House with Iran at the centreSymbolic image

Trump and Netanyahu meet at the White House with Iran at the centre

11 sources

US President Donald Trump received Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House on Tuesday, 28 July, in a meeting closed to reporters that both governments called positive and productive. Iran dominated the talks, and both sides said they reaffirmed that Tehran must not obtain a nuclear weapon. Hours earlier, Israel's defence minister said Washington is not approving Israeli strikes on Iranian energy facilities.

What happened

Trump hosted Netanyahu at the White House on Tuesday, the Israeli prime minister's eighth meeting with him this term and his first since the war against Iran began on 28 February. Al Jazeera reported that no reporters were admitted and no joint press conference was scheduled; N12 put the talks at about an hour. TASS reported that photos released by Netanyahu's office showed Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, War Secretary Pete Hegseth and envoy Steve Witkoff among the participants. White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt called the meeting positive and productive; Netanyahu called it one of the best conversations he has had with a US president and spoke of full partnership on keeping Iran from a nuclear weapon.

Defence Minister Israel Katz told Channel 14 that Israel wants to strike Iran's energy targets but that the United States is not approving it, citing concern that Iran would attack neighbouring states and trigger a global oil crisis.

The view from outside

Al Jazeera reported that no media were invited to the talks and that protesters gathered outside the White House against Netanyahu's meeting with Trump. Turkey's Daily Sabah, citing Reuters, reported that Trump voiced frustration with Netanyahu after details of his planned remarks on Iran leaked, quoting Trump telling Fox News he doesn't need Netanyahu ('Bibi') to brief him on the Pickaxe Mountain site because 'he wants me to stay involved.' The American Conservative reported Katz's admission that Washington is holding Israel back from striking Iran's energy targets over fears of a wider regional attack and a global oil crisis.

What could happen next

Before the meeting Trump told Fox News that Washington would take out Pickaxe Mountain "very easily" if no deal is reached, while insisting negotiations remain possible; the pause in US and Iranian strikes has held since 24 July. FAZ reports that Trump may press for Israeli pullbacks from Lebanon, Syria and Gaza, and that Netanyahu told his security cabinet on Sunday he would refuse; Lebanese troops have moved into two pilot zones under a US-brokered framework, and Syria's transitional president says he wants a security accord that would require an Israeli withdrawal. The American Conservative reports Brent crude at $87 a barrel and slowed traffic through Bab el-Mandeb after Houthi strikes on Saudi oil infrastructure. What follows depends on whether the Qatari, Pakistani and Omani mediation channels restart talks with Tehran or Trump orders further strikes.

How the camps see it

  • United States: Trump keeps the nuclear red line but prefers a deal, withholds approval for strikes on Iranian energy sites and says he already knows what is happening at Pickaxe Mountain without Israeli briefings.

  • Israel: Netanyahu presents intelligence on an Iranian rearmament and wants Washington to widen the campaign, while his defence minister says Israel is prepared to hit Iran's energy infrastructure alone if needed.

  • Iran: No Iranian source is among the material; according to TASS, Tehran stopped its exchange of strikes with the United States on 24 July after retaliating against US facilities in six Gulf and Arab states.

Also involved

Gulf statesLebanon and Syria

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