Netanyahu races to Washington for emergency Trump meeting amid Israel's fears over high stakes US-Iran talks

The Israeli Prime Minister has asked for a visit scheduled for February 18 to be brought forward to Tuesday, amid fears the US will strike an unfavourable deal with Iran. 

An initial round of US-Iran talks in Oman was held on Friday with Jared Kushner, Mr Trump’s son-in-law, and Steve Witkoff, his special envoy, representing the US.

Israel is hoping that any deal reached will include limitations on Tehran’s ballistic missile programme and its support for terrorist groups, as well as its nuclear ambitions.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has said he wants talks to go further than Iran’s nuclear programme, but Israel reportedly fears that the US will opt for a “narrow” deal on nuclear enrichment and not address Tel Aviv’s other concerns.

Referring to Tehran’s support for militant groups including Hezbollah and Hamas, Netanyahu’s office said in a statement on Saturday: “The prime minister believes that all negotiations must include limiting the ballistic missiles and ending support for the Iranian axis.

Read more: Iran and US to enter high-stakes talks amid fears of Middle East war

Read more: I support survivors of Iran's regime. When headlines fade, the trauma will remain

Little progress has been made over years of nuclear talks since Trump scrapped a 2015 agreement with Iran following strong encouragement from Israel.

Iran has expressed little interest to engage with Israel's other demands.

The talks come amid a continued US naval build-up near Iran, which Mr Trump has called an "armada".Describing the fleet, Trump said: "Like with Venezuela, it is, ready, willing and able to rapidly fulfil its mission, with speed and violence, if necessary."

The US president has repeatedly threatened Iran with military action since the Islamic regime launched its bloody crackdown on protesters last month, with the death toll now estimated to be in the tens of thousands.

Vice president JD Vance told The Megyn Kelly Show that diplomatic talks with Iran are challenging because of Tehran's political system, overseen by  Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

It's a very weird country to conduct diplomacy with when you can't even talk to the person who's in charge of the country.

That makes all of this much more complicated, and it makes the whole situation much more absurd," Mr Vance said, noting that Mr Trump could speak directly by phone with the leaders of Russia, China or North Korea.

Mr Vance said Mr Trump's bottom line is that Iran cannot be allowed to develop a nuclear weapon, asserting that other states in the region would quickly do the same.

Iran has long insisted its nuclear programme is peaceful. However, Iranian officials in recent years have increasingly threatened to pursue the bomb.

Mr Vance said he believed Mr Trump would work to "accomplish what he can through non-military means. And if he feels like the military is the only option, then he's ultimately going to choose that option".