US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff met with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem on Tuesday after flying in ahead of scheduled discussions set for Istanbul on Friday, where the US and Iran will seek a path to de-escalate tensions.
Netanyahu told Witkoff that "Iran has repeatedly proven it cannot be trusted to keep its commitments," according to a statement from the Prime Minister's office.
The Jerusalem Post learned after the meeting between the two leaders that Iran told mediators that it is ready to discuss the nuclear issue and is even willing to consider compromises.
Additionally, the Islamic Republic seemed amenable to discussing the ballistic missiles issue and its proxies in later talks, a source familiar with the details told the Post.
Iran reportedly believes that reaching an agreement on the nuclear issue will cause Trump to abandon the idea of war. The source added to the Post that if there is a nuclear deal, it will probably prevent Israel from conducting strikes against Iran's missile storage facilities.
However, in Israel and the US, the assessment is that the chance of reaching an agreement with the Islamic Republic is slim to none.
During the meeting, Netanyahu stressed that Hamas's disarmament, demilitarizing the Gaza Strip, and completing Israel's "war objectives" must be accomplished before reconstruction can happen, the Prime Minister's Office shared in an evening statement.
According to the PMO, Netanyahu also affirmed that the Palestinian Authority (PA) "will not be involved in Gaza's governance in any way," and briefed Huckabee on "serious violations uncovered in Gaza, including the use of UNRWA bags to conceal weapons."
Witkoff visits ahead of planned talks between US, Iran
Witkoff's visit to Israel comes ahead of talks between the United States and Iran in Istanbul scheduled for later this week, aimed at avoiding conflict and de-escalating tensions between the two sides.
The Istanbul meeting may also include discussions of a possible nuclear deal, two sources with knowledge of the plans told Axios on Monday. A third source stated that a meeting on Friday was the "best case scenario," while cautioning that nothing is final until it happens.
Separately, on Tuesday, Iranian officials threatened to withdraw from the upcoming talks, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar with the matter, though it is unclear what triggered the remarks.
This was later corroborated by an anonymous US official, cited by Reuters as saying that Trump has been "calling for them [Iran] to make a deal. The meeting is to hear what they have to say."
Senior officials, likely foreign ministers, from Qatar, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Oman, and Turkey will join the talks, sources confirmed to The Jerusalem Post. Trump's advisor and son-in-law, Jared Kushner, will also attend, the sources said.
US-Iran tensions rise
Last week, US President Donald Trump urged Iran to come to the table and make a deal on nuclear weapons, or the next US attack would be far worse, but Tehran said that if that happened, it would fight back as never before.
On Sunday, Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei warned in a post to X/Twitter that any American strike on Iran would lead to regional conflict.
"We are not the initiators of war. We do not seek to oppress anyone. We do not seek to attack any country," Khamenei said in an additional post. "However, anyone who seeks to attack or cause harm will face a decisive blow from the Iranian nation."
Later that day, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said in a CNN interview that Trump is being "dragged" towards war by "certain parties," who want war for "their own benefit.
The meeting, which lasted for over three hours, was also attended by US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee, Defense Minister Israel Katz, IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Eyal Zamir, and Mossad Director David Barnea.
Israel's military intelligence chief and IAF commander were also present at the meeting.
James Genn, Lara Sukster Mosheyof, Amichai Stein, Anna Barsky, and Reuters contributed to this report.