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Trump meets Netanyahu
President Donald Trump met Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House on Tuesday for closed-door talks that White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt described as “positive and productive.”
“The US and Iran are locked in a standoff over the Strait of Hormuz”
The meeting marked Netanyahu’s first visit since the US and Israel launched a joint war against Iran, and it came after Netanyahu arrived just before 11 a.m. local time and left around 12:30 p.m.
Netanyahu said after the visit that the discussion was “one of the best conversations” he had with Trump, citing a shared goal to ensure that Iran does not have nuclear weapons.
The talks were expected to cover the ongoing war with Iran and a framework agreement the US and Israel signed in Lebanon over the Israel-Hezbollah conflict, according to a White House official cited by the Associated Press.
The meeting also occurred minutes after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky departed from a closed-door meeting with Trump, which Leavitt said also went well.
Pickaxe Mountain dispute
Ahead of the White House meeting, Trump told Fox News, “I don’t need Bibi to tell me that,” when asked about reports that Netanyahu would discuss alleged intelligence related to Iran’s Pickaxe Mountain.
Trump added that Netanyahu is “telling me that because he wants me to stay involved,” and he said, “I know exactly what’s going on at Pickaxe. It’s not a big problem,” according to Al Jazeera’s account of his remarks.
The Times of Israel reported that Trump dismissed the site as “not a big problem,” and said Netanyahu was only going to bring it up later because “he wants me to stay involved.”
The Times of Israel also said Pickaxe Mountain has not been hit by the US or Israel, and it cited International Atomic Energy Agency head Rafael Grossi saying Iran in 2021 declared its “intention to have nuclear activity” there.
In the same reporting, the Times of Israel said the peak of Pickaxe Mountain rises to some 1,600 meters above sea level and is located 220 kilometers (140 miles) south of Tehran.
Blockade and negotiations
The US military said its reinstated blockade on Iranian ports has stopped 18 ships from exiting or entering Iranian ports, according to U.S. Central Command, with the number of ships boarded (two) and disabled (two) remaining the same.
“Netanyahu holds first White House talks with Trump since Iran war began Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited the White House Tuesday for his first in-person talks with President Donald Trump since the Iran war began, with the Israeli leader saying they discussed ensuring Tehran does not acquire nuclear arms”
CBS News reported that transits in the Strait of Hormuz are down sharply after the ceasefire fell apart, with only 29 verified crossings recorded from July 24 to 26, according to data company Kpler.
Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi told Tasnim News Agency that “Tehran blocked the plan” for Oman to allow another country to de-mine the Strait of Hormuz, and he said Iran has not submitted any request to negotiate with the United States during the past 15 days.
In a separate development, ABC News said Iranian government spokesperson Fatemeh Mohajerani told a press briefing that the recent U.S. attacks caused “severe damage” to civilian infrastructure across the region, including airports, bridges, railways and energy facilities.
The same ABC News account said Mohajerani claimed “more than 350 Iranian government employees had been killed,” and it added that twelve bridges and two tunnels have been damaged.
