Trump says he told Netanyahu to back off military strikes in Iran

President Trump said he told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to hold off striking Iran while his administration attempts to work out a nuclear deal.

Mr. Trump said in the Oval Office Wednesday that he told Mr. Netanyahu any strike on Iran “would be inappropriate to do right now because we’re very close to a solution.”

“That could change at any moment. It could change with a phone call, but right now I think they want to make a deal and if we can make a deal, it’d save a lot of lives,” he said.

The president said an agreement could come to fruition “over the next couple of weeks, if it happens.”

Mr. Netanyahu has threatened to launch a strike on Iran’s nuclear enrichment facilities even if the U.S. reaches an agreement with Tehran, The New York Times reported.

Mr. Trump said last month that he wasn’t in a rush to strike Iran’s facilities because he’s keen on making a deal.

He spoke with Mr. Netanyahu on the phone last week, and White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said the discussion was productive.

“As the president told me and he told all of you, this deal with Iran could end in two ways. It could end in a very positive diplomatic solution or it could end in a very negative situation for Iran,” she said.

Iran and the U.S. have held five rounds of talks so far, all mediated by Oman.

A sixth round has yet to be set, but Mr. Trump said on the way back from his Middle East trip earlier this month that Iran has received a proposal from the U.S.

Rafael Mariano Grossi, director-general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, the United Nations’ atomic watchdog, said Wednesday that “the jury is still out” regarding the negotiations between the U.S. and Iran, but he said the continuing talks should be taken as a good sign.