Trump: I call all the shots on Iran, Netanyahu has no choice

Dubai: US President Donald Trump said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu would have no option but to accept any agreement Washington reaches with Iran, asserting that the final decision rests with him, not Israel.

“He won’t have any choice,” Trump told the Financial Times in a phone interview. “I call the shots. I call all the shots. He doesn’t call the shots.”

The remarks came after Iran launched ballistic missiles at northern Israel in support of Hezbollah, following an Israeli strike on a Hezbollah stronghold in Beirut. Trump said he spoke to Netanyahu shortly afterward and reportedly urged him not to retaliate as Washington seeks to keep US-Iran negotiations on track.

Despite the latest escalation, Trump insisted the missile attacks would not derail diplomacy.

“It’s not going to have any impact on the deal,” he said. “The deal may make it on its own merit, or not, but this will not have any effect on it.”

The US president acknowledged that a deal is not yet certain, striking a more cautious tone than in recent weeks.

“I think the deal is going on. We’ll see what happens,” he said.

Trump had earlier told Fox News that an agreement with Tehran appeared to be only days away before the latest attacks.

At the same time, he warned that military action remains an option if diplomacy fails.

No new wars?

• What Trump said during the campaign

• Repeatedly pledged “No New Wars”

• Portrayed Democrats as warmongers

• Promised to restore peace and avoid foreign conflicts

• What Trump says now

• “I didn’t guarantee no war.”

• “I don’t like these endless wars. This is not an endless war.”

• Says the Iran conflict has lasted only three months

• Argues military action was necessary to stop Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon

• His defence

• Claims the Iran war is limited in scope, unlike the wars in Iraq or Afghanistan

• Says the US is “doing the world a service” by confronting Iran

• Maintains diplomacy remains his preferred outcome

• What critics say

• The conflict with Iran undermines his campaign’s “No New Wars” message

• Military strikes and a prolonged blockade amount to a new conflict regardless of duration

• Questions remain over how the war aligns with Trump’s pledge to keep America out of new military entanglements

• Key quote

• “First of all, I didn’t guarantee no war. Why would I have built the strongest military in the world?” — Donald Trump

“If a deal is not reached, it means one of two things,” Trump said. “Possibly we would go in and take care of the rest of the place that we didn’t take care of militarily. Or we would keep the blockade on Iran, because the blockade has probably been more powerful than any attack ever made on that country.”

His comments followed reports of a heated phone call with Netanyahu last week, during which Trump was said to have sharply criticised the Israeli leader over actions that risked undermining US diplomatic efforts. Trump confirmed the conversation took place but did not dispute reports describing it as unusually blunt.

The latest exchange highlights growing tensions between Washington and Jerusalem as Trump presses ahead with negotiations aimed at ending the conflict with Iran, while seeking to prevent further regional escalation.