March 22, 2025 (EIRNS)—A senior Israeli delegation is expected to visit the White House early next week for strategic consultations about Iran, two Israeli officials and one U.S. official told Axios on March 20. This follows President Donald Trump giving Iran a two-month deadline to negotiate a new deal on restricting its nuclear program or face the prospect of military strikes. The original nuclear deal, signed in 2015 and known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), took three years to negotiate, with full UN backing. Trump pulled the U.S. out of the deal during his first term in 2018, following which Iran exercised its rights as provided in the agreement, to take measures in response to violations by one of the other signatories.
Axios noted that Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu and his team think the odds of a deal are low, and want to align on a joint course of action should things escalate to military force. This will be discussed at a meeting of the U.S.-Israel Strategic Consultative Group (SCG), its first meeting since Trump assumed office in January. Top Netanyahu advisers, strategic affairs minister Ron Dermer and national security adviser Tzachi Hanegbi, are expected to lead the Israeli delegation, according to Israeli officials. The U.S. side will be led by National Security Advisor Mike Waltz and will include representatives from the State Department, Pentagon, and U.S. intelligence community. A senior U.S. official said the talks are expected to focus on the Iranian nuclear issue and the possibility of negotiations between the U.S. and Iran.
