US President Donald Trump on Monday warned Iran not to build up its nuclear programme, as he welcomed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for talks in Florida.
He has repeatedly claimed that Iran's nuclear industry had been “completely and fully obliterated” in US strikes in June. Israeli officials have also told local media of concerns about Iran rebuilding its supply of long-range missiles capable of striking Israel.
“I hear that Iran is trying to build up again,” Mr Trump told reporters as he welcomed Mr Netanyahu to his Mar-a-Lago estate. “And if they are, we’re going to have to knock them down. We'll knock them down. We'll knock the hell out of them. But hopefully, that’s not happening.”
Iran insists it is no longer enriching uranium and indicated openness to negotiations. But Mr Netanyahu was expected to discuss with Mr Trump the possible need for new military action against Tehran just months after launching a 12-day war on Iran.
A top political adviser to Iran's supreme leader said on Monday that any aggression against the country would be met with an “immediate harsh response”, after Mr Trump threatened to “eradicate” any attempt by Tehran to rebuild its nuclear programme.
“Iran's missile capability and defence are not containable or permission-based. Any aggression will face an immediate harsh response beyond its planners' imagination,” Ali Shamkhani wrote on X.
Mr Netanyahu's visit also comes at another critical moment in Gaza as Mr Trump looks for momentum in the US-brokered Israel-Hamas ceasefire that is in danger of stalling before reaching the complicated second phase of the agreement.
The ceasefire between Israel and Hamas that Mr Trump championed has mostly held, but progress has slowed recently. Both sides accuse each other of breaches, and divisions have emerged among the US, Israel and Arab countries about the way forward.
The truce's first phase began in October, days after the two-year anniversary of the initial Hamas-led attack on Israel that killed about 1,200 people. All but one of the 251 hostages taken then have been released, alive or dead.
The body of one hostage is still in Gaza and Mr Netanyahu has indicated that he is in no rush to move forward with the second phase of the ceasefire while the remains are still missing.
The second phase of Mr Trump's 20-point plan for Gaza, which has won UN Security Council backing, outlines a path for ending Hamas’s rule of the enclave.
Mr Trump said it would be “really, really bad” for Hamas if they fail to disarm.
If successful, the second phase would see the rebuilding of a demilitarised Gaza under international supervision by a group led by Mr Trump and known as the Board of Peace. The Palestinians would form a “technocratic, apolitical” committee to run daily affairs in Gaza, under the board's supervision.
It also calls for normalised relations between Israel and the Arab world, and a possible pathway to Palestinian independence. Then there are many logistical and humanitarian questions, including rebuilding war-ravaged Gaza, disarming Hamas and creating a security body called the International Stabilisation Force.
The Board of Peace would oversee Gaza’s reconstruction under a two-year, renewable UN mandate. Its members had been expected to be named by the end of the year and might even be revealed after Monday's meeting, but the announcement could be pushed into next month.
Israeli government spokeswoman Shosh Bedrosian said Mr Netanyahu would discuss ensuring that “Hamas is disarmed, Gaza is demilitarised” in the second phase of the agreement.
He will also bring up the “danger Iran poses not only to the region of the Middle East, but the US as well”, Ms Bedrosian added.
Lebanon
On Lebanon, Mr Trump said Hezbollah had been “behaving badly, so we'll see what happens”.
He also said he had discussed with Israeli President Isaac Herzog his request for a pardon on corruption charges for Mr Netanyahu, who is accused of accepting luxury goods from billionaires in exchange for political favours, and of seeking to negotiate more favourable coverage from Israeli media outlets.
“There has not been a conversation between President Herzog and President Trump since the pardon request was submitted,” Mr Herzog's office said.
