President Donald Trump on Wednesday said he told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that nuclear talks with Iran will continue to see if a deal can be reached.
After Mr Netanyahu's visit to the White House, Mr Trump said his preference would be for a new deal with Tehran. The Pentagon continues to amass warships and planes in the Middle East before a potential strike against Iran.
Last month, during the Tehran regime's crackdown on protests that killed thousands across the country, Mr Trump told Iranian demonstrators that "help is on its way".
"There was nothing definitive reached other than I insisted that negotiations with Iran continue to see whether or not a deal can be consummated," he said on Truth Social of his latest meeting with Mr Netanyahu.
"If it can, I let the Prime Minister know that will be a preference. If it cannot, we will just have to see what the outcome will be."
Mr Netanyahu's visit, his sixth to Washington since Mr Trump retook office, comes as US negotiations with Iran continue over its nuclear programme.
Unlike previous visits, Mr Trump and Mr Netanyahu did not speak to the media, and the Israeli Prime Minister headed to the Oval Office through a side entrance. Dozens of pro-Palestinian protesters were gathered outside the White House perimeter, which had been cordoned off by metal barriers. Sirens and chants could be heard from the White House compound.
Before his meeting with the US President, Mr Netanyahu met Secretary of State Marco Rubio and signed an agreement to join the Board of Peace, which is expected to assemble in Washington for its first meeting next week.
"We will continue strengthening the unbreakable alliance between Israel and the United States," Mr Netanyahu said in a post on social media.
Mr Netanyahu was briefed by White House envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner on the indirect talks between the US and Iran held in Oman last week, his office said.
Mr Trump on Tuesday suggested a second aircraft carrier strike group could be sent to the region. The USS George HW Bush, based in Virginia, could get there relatively quickly if ordered. The USS Abraham Lincoln carrier strike group is already in the region.
US Central Command, meanwhile, posted images of an Apache attack helicopter operating in the Middle East, highlighting the aircraft's "close air support to ground forces".
Iran on Tuesday warned against Israel's "destructive" influence on diplomacy. “Our negotiating party is America. It is up to America to decide to act independently of the pressures and destructive influences that are detrimental to the region,” said Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei in a weekly press briefing.
Ali Larijani, a top adviser to Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, also called on US officials to remain alert and not allow Mr Netanyahu to "lecture" them on the nuclear talks, Iranian media reported.
Iran and the US held five rounds of talks last year on curbing Tehran's nuclear programme. Negotiations were derailed in June when Israel launched a surprise attack on Iran just before a scheduled sixth round of talks. The US then joined in, carrying out strikes against key Iranian nuclear facilities.
The latest round of negotiations started last Friday in Oman amid high regional tension. Concerns are high that Washington could launch another attack on Tehran. Iran also warned it would respond by striking American bases in the region.
The US and Iran have described the recent talks as "positive" but this has not helped to ease the tension. Mr Trump warned that if a deal is not reached, the US will do "something very tough".
Iran appears to have not let its guard down either. Mr Larijani met Houthi spokesman and prominent figure Mohammed Abdulsalam in Oman. Semi-official Tasnim news agency said the meeting was a response to the "show" Mr Witkoff and Mr Kushner put on when they visited the USS Abraham Lincoln after the talks, as well as evidence of the "unbreakable" bond between Tehran and its proxies.
The Washington-based Institute for Science and International Security said satellite images it published showed tunnel entrances to Iran's Isfahan nuclear site had been buried under soil, suggesting Tehran was taking action in case of another attack on the facility.
The US wants Iran to completely abandon its nuclear programme and hand over any enriched uranium, curb the number and range of its ballistic missiles and end support for regional proxy groups, including Hamas, Hezbollah and the Houthis.
Iran, meanwhile, demands relief from the punishing US sanctions programme, but has said its ballistic missiles programme is off the table and that its right to nuclear enrichment is non-negotiable.
Some analysts see talks with Iran as providing cover while the US and its ally Israel prepare attack options.
"Failed rounds of negotiations can go a long way toward helping convince the US and international communities that a military intervention is necessary," said Asaf Romirowsky, executive director of the Association for the Study of the Middle East and Africa.
