Netanyahu tells Trump no diplomatic deal with Iranian 'savages' is possible

Benjamin Netanyahu has ruled out any diplomatic deal with Iran as he backed Donald Trump 's new economic campaign. The Israeli Prime Minister said an agreement was not possible with the 'savages' who rule Iran , referring to the authorities in Tehran. Speaking at an event in Jerusalem for Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank, Netanyahu said he told Trump in a meeting at the White House last month: 'I doubt that an agreement can be reached with that group there, with those savages. 'I tell you - an agreement cannot be reached.' Netanyahu added the two also discussed renewing military action against Iran: 'We will not allow Iran to attack us, and if, God forbid, they attack us, they will suffer a blow beyond anything they have imagined– far stronger than anything they have suffered until now' Netanyahu also hailed the US president's new campaign after Trump on Monday declared 'economic D-Day' aimed at destroying Iran's economy. Newly expanded sanctions on Iran will target the country’s technology, gold, aviation and shipping sectors. It has already endured years of sanctions, but Trump has shown reluctance to resume a full-scale war even as he grows frustrated that Tehran will not accept his demands. Benjamin Netanyahu has ruled out any diplomatic deal with Iran as he backed Donald Trump's new economic campaign (pictured together at the White House) The Israeli Prime Minister said: '[Trump] reaffirmed that decision with something very, very, very powerful. 'What President Trump did yesterday was to tighten the siege on Iran - not by tightening the siege on Iran itself, but by tightening the siege on those who help that regime, that terrible dictatorship. That is very important.' The Israeli leader had pushed for years for a US attack on Iran, whose Shia cleric-run state supports anti-Israel armed groups such as Hezbollah and Hamas, which led the devastating October 7, 2023 attack on Israel . Netanyahu has long been sceptical of diplomacy with Iran, openly campaigning against a 2015 nuclear deal brokered by then US president Barack Obama , but he has been publicly careful not to criticise Trump who has also sought a negotiated settlement. Trump joined Netanyahu in a US-Israeli joint attack on Iran in late February but agreed to a ceasefire in April in the face of widespread US public opposition to the war, which had sent oil prices spiralling . The war has become even more personal for Netanyahu as he revealed Monday that Iran tried to kill one of his sons. He did not give further details. The US news channel Newsmax, quoting an anonymous US law enforcement source, said the target was Yair Netanyahu, his 35-year-old son who has long lived in the Miami area and is known for his outspoken support for hawkish Israeli policies. The younger Netanyahu abruptly returned to Israel, leaving his belongings behind, Newsmax said. Israel in the opening salvo of the war on February 28 killed Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, along with much of his family. His son Mojtaba, one of Khamenei's six children, was named the new supreme leader a week later and has not been seen in public since. In a message read out on his behalf on state TV, Mojtaba Khamenei said that in addition to his father, he had lost his wife, his sister, her child and his brother-in-law.