- Israel has destroyed 150 kilometers of Gaza tunnels; 350 kilometers left.
- US-Iran talks resume this week; Netanyahu is unsure of the outcome.
- The United States sends a second aircraft carrier to the region amid tensions.
JERUSALEM: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday that he told U.S. President Donald Trump last week that any U.S. deal with Iran must include dismantling Iran's nuclear infrastructure, not just halting the enrichment process.
Speaking at the annual Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, Netanyahu also said Israel still needs to “complete the job” of destroying all tunnels in Gaza. Israel, he said, has already dismantled 150 kilometers of an estimated total of 500 kilometers.
A second round of talks between the United States and Iran is scheduled for this week. Iran is seeking a nuclear deal with the United States that would generate economic benefits for both sides, an Iranian diplomat said Sunday.
Netanyahu said he is skeptical about a deal, but that it must include enriched material coming out of Iran.
“There will be no enrichment capacity, not to stop the enrichment process, but to dismantle the equipment and infrastructure that allows enrichment in the first place,” he said.
Iran and the United States renewed negotiations earlier this month to address their decades-old dispute over Tehran's nuclear program and avoid a new military confrontation.
The United States has sent a second aircraft carrier to the region and is preparing for the possibility of a sustained military campaign if talks are unsuccessful, US officials told Reuters.
Netanyahu also said his goal was to end US military aid to Israel in the next 10 years, after the current 10-year agreement of receiving $3.8 billion a year, largely spent in the United States on equipment, ends in 2028.
Because of a prosperous economy, “we can afford to gradually eliminate the financial component of the military aid we are receiving, and I propose a 10-year reduction to zero. Now, in the remaining three years of the current memorandum of understanding and another seven years reduce it to zero,” Netanyahu said. “We want to move with the United States from aid to partnership,” he said.
