Israeli Difficulty in Interpreting Trump's Remarks after Weitkov and Araghchi Meeting

SadaNews - Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi stated following his meeting in Oman with U.S. envoy Steve Weitkov that Iran intends to begin negotiations but insists that the talks be solely on the nuclear issue, without removing uranium or enrichment from its territory, while U.S. President Donald Trump said that the Iranians want a deal and focused solely on the nuclear program. These statements have raised concerns in Israel, and the security affairs analyst at the Israeli Army Radio and the "Zman Israel" website, Amir Bar Shalom, noted today, Sunday, that "if both sides come out satisfied from the first round of talks, then something is not clear here." He added that the Israeli leadership is finding it difficult to interpret Trump's words and what he meant by them, and this was the reason for the early visit of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to Washington to meet with Trump next Wednesday, after the visit was originally scheduled for two weeks later. The newspaper "Yedioth Ahronoth" reported today that Netanyahu will present Israel's demands to Trump, which include "absolute cancellation of the nuclear program, including halting uranium enrichment and removing the quantity of enriched uranium from Iran," as well as the return of International Atomic Energy Agency inspectors to Iran to conduct "close, real, and quality" monitoring of the nuclear program, including "surprise inspections at suspicious facilities." Israel considers that any U.S.-Iranian agreement must include restrictions on the range of Iranian missiles so that it does not exceed 300 kilometers, to avoid posing a threat to Israel, and that the agreement stipulates that Iran should not have the capability to assist and support militias in the Middle East, including Hezbollah in Lebanon and the Houthis in Yemen. Weitkov visited Israel last Wednesday and listened for three hours to a briefing on Israel's demands presented to him by the Chief of Staff of the Army, the Head of the Mossad, and the Chief of Military Intelligence, who provided him with all the latest intelligence information on the Iranian nuclear and missile programs, the internal situation of the regime, and possible scenarios for a U.S. military operation. Weitkov told the three security officials at the end of the briefing that "we are not naïve," according to Bar Shalom. Bar Shalom speculated that Netanyahu will seek during his meeting with Trump to understand the direction of affairs with Iran, and he deemed it not unlikely that the goal of Weitkov's and Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner's visit to the aircraft carrier "Lincoln" was a "quiet American message" to Iran, indicating that "despite the smiles and soft talk during the meetings in Oman, a big American stick is still raised over Iran's head." Bar Shalom hinted that Israel is awaiting the next round of U.S.-Iranian talks, hoping to understand Iran's position and that Trump's interpretation of its position will be clearer.