...
By Brendan Cole
Senior Reporter
0
Share
Newsweek is a Trust Project member
See more of our trusted coverage when you search.Prefer Newsweek on Googleto see more of our trusted coverage when you search.
Iran has signaled its missile program is a red line in U.S. negotiation ahead of a White House visit by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu who is expected to push President Donald Trump to strike a deal on Tehran’s weapons capabilities.
Mock coffins of serving and retired U.S. military officers draped in American flags were pictured during celebrations marking the 47th anniversary of Iran's Islamic revolution where President Masoud Pezeshkian said his country “will not yield in the face of aggression.”
Netanyahu is expected to ask Trump on Wednesday to pressure Tehran for a deal to halt uranium enrichment and cut its support for regional proxy groups.
Read More on News
...
Iran has signaled it could limit its nuclear program in return for sanctions relief, but has rejected the other demands, and that missiles would be a red line.
“No one can make the slightest encroachment on our missiles,” Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Wednesday, according to Iranian media, “our missiles are not a subject of negotiation and will not be.”
Trump sent the USS Abraham Lincoln carrier strike group to the region after he threatened to attack Iran if it continued its violent crackdown on mass protests in which thousands of people have been killed.
Tehran has repeatedly said that any limited attack would be regarded as the start of a war, while Rear Admiral Ali Shamkhani, secretary of the Defense Council, said the Islamic Republic’s missile capability is not negotiable.
Trump told Fox Business that a good deal with Iran would mean "no nuclear weapons, no missiles," without specifying further. The president also said Tuesday he was "thinking" about sending a second aircraft carrier strike group to the region, telling Axios that Tehran "wants to make a deal very badly.”
Netanyahu's visit on Wednesday will be his sixth during this Trump presidency, more than any other world leader.
On Tuesday, he met U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner, according to a post on X by Israel's ambassador to Washington, Michael Leiter.
Netanyahu’s office said the Israeli prime minister believes negotiations must include limiting ballistic missiles and ending support for the Iranian axis.
As previously reported by Newsweek, Rachel Brandenburg, a former State Department and Pentagon official now managing director of the Israel Policy Forum, said that Trump “wants a win—but it's not clear yet whether that win needs to be related to Iran's nuclear program, its ballistic missile program, both, or regime change."
In a polarized era, the center is dismissed as bland. At Newsweek, ours is different: The Courageous Center—it's not "both sides," it's sharp, challenging and alive with ideas. We follow facts, not factions. If that sounds like the kind of journalism you want to see thrive, we need you.
When you become a Newsweek Member, you support a mission to keep the center strong and vibrant. Members enjoy: Ad-free browsing, exclusive content and editor conversations. Help keep the center courageous. Join today.
View 0 Comments
Submit Correction
View Editorial & AI Guidelines