Netanyahu on US-Iran talks: I won’t tell Trump not to meet Rouhani

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Thursday in London that he will not object to US President Donald Trump meeting Iranian president Hassan Rouhani in New York later this month on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly.

Netanyahu said more pressure is needed now on Iran. He said he preferred the approach of Trump on Iran to his predecessor, Barack Obama. 

“Right now the time is to apply pressure. Does that mean that after a month or two months of pressure you can’t do it,” he asked. “I don’t rule it out and I certainly don’t decide for the president of the US when to meet and who to meet with.”

“I don’t know when such a meeting would be, but if it happened, Trump would be more steadfast and clear thinking than [America] was before. “His basis for a meeting would be on what we agree: That the deal was terrible, that the deal didn’t deal with key issues.”

Netanyahu complained that Iran has not responded to 12 steps presented by US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, which he said were also requests by Israel.

Iran dominated meetings Netanyahu had on Thursday with British prime minister Boris Johnson and Defense Secretary Ben Wall.

Johnson told the press ahead of his meeting with Netanyahu that he would discuss the two-state solution with him. A diplomatic official said that the issue did not end up getting raised in the meeting.