Iran: Despite Their "Differences", Trump and Netanyahu Close Ranks

US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held a meeting on Tuesday that both sides described as "positive," reaffirming their shared commitment to preventing Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons.

The two leaders, who have stood shoulder to shoulder in their campaign against the Islamic Republic, have nonetheless begun showing signs of divergence since last April.

The White House occupant now favors a diplomatic solution to cut short a war that has dragged on longer than expected and risks becoming a political liability as the midterm elections approach.

Conversely, the Israeli Prime Minister intends to see the confrontation through to the end in order to eliminate what he describes as the "existential" threat posed by Iran.

In a video released after the meeting, Benjamin Netanyahu said he had "the best conversation" with Donald Trump, explaining that their talks had focused in part on their "shared goal: making sure Iran does not obtain nuclear weapons."

Even so, the closed-door meeting — which lasted nearly an hour and a half and ended without either participant speaking to the press — does not fully dispel the impression of a rift between Washington and Jerusalem.

It was their first face-to-face meeting since the outbreak of the regional war in the Middle East, and their eighth since Donald Trump's return to the White House.

Washington says it wants to give diplomacy with Tehran another chance following two weeks of unprecedented bombing that preceded the April ceasefire.

Mr. Netanyahu's visit comes at a "critical moment for the Middle East," as Iran continues, according to Israel, to "prioritize terrorism over negotiations" and maintains its blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, Israeli Ambassador to the United Nations Danny Danon said earlier on Tuesday.

"A very difficult guy"

Relations between Donald Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu had deteriorated sharply in April, during the early stages of ceasefire negotiations between Washington and Tehran.

The US president had sharply criticized his Israeli ally at the time, accusing him of undermining diplomatic efforts.

Donald Trump had notably described Benjamin Netanyahu as a "very difficult guy."

The Israeli Prime Minister acknowledged "tactical disagreements" while insisting that he and his American counterpart shared the same strategic objectives.

When asked on Tuesday morning about reports that Iran had been reinforcing facilities inside Mount Kolang ("pickaxe" in Persian), Donald Trump replied: "I don't need Bibi to tell me that. He's telling me because he wants me to stay involved."

"I know exactly what's going on at Kolang. It's not a big deal. If we can't reach a deal, we'll destroy those facilities very easily," he said on Fox News ahead of the meeting.

"The main point is to show the entire world — Iran, but also Lebanon and other countries in the region — that there is no break or major disagreement between the United States and Israel," Yonatan Freeman, an international relations scholar at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, told AFP.

In his view, any differences are more about means — the timing, intensity of military operations, or immediate objectives — than about ultimate goals.

Iranian contacts with Riyadh and Muscat over Hormuz

Meanwhile, Tehran continues to alternate between military operations and diplomatic overtures toward its Arab Gulf neighbors, blurring the traditional lines of the confrontation.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi held separate phone calls with his Omani counterpart Badr al-Busaidi and his Saudi counterpart Faisal bin Farhan to discuss the Strait of Hormuz, according to Iranian state television.

"They stressed the need to strengthen cooperation and advance diplomatic efforts to restore stability in the region and put an end to the insecurity imposed on the Strait of Hormuz by aggressive US actions," the same source reported.

On Tuesday evening, Riyadh also announced that it had intercepted hundreds of Iranian drones during an attack targeting Aramco oil facilities in the kingdom's eastern region…

Rome talks continue

On the Lebanese front, the United States confirmed that new talks between Israel and Lebanon will be held in Rome from August 4 to 6, as part of the expansion of the "pilot zones" mechanism under Lebanese army supervision.

These meetings, which are largely technical in nature, will focus on expanding the framework, resolving outstanding border issues, and working toward a comprehensive peace and security agreement, a US State Department official told Al-Hadath.

"We are entering this new round of discussions between Lebanon and Israel with positive momentum following the success of the pilot zones," the official added, speaking on condition of anonymity.

The diplomat also stated that the "fruitful meeting" between Presidents Donald Trump and Joseph Aoun had a positive impact on the Lebanese-Israeli discussions.

Despite a relative lull in fighting, the Israeli military has continued to carry out targeted strikes in southern Lebanon. Israeli Defense Minister Yisrael Katz even boasted on Tuesday of having destroyed 24 centuries-old Lebanese villages, adding that the Israeli army was applying the same tactics in Lebanon as in Gaza, where nearly 70% of the Palestinian coastal strip is said to have been destroyed since hostilities began in October 2024…

In Houla… ammonium nitrate, again

On the ground, UNIFIL announced on Tuesday that it had discovered approximately four tons of explosives in early July in Houla, a village in southern Lebanon located in an area under Israeli occupation.

The peacekeepers "discovered 385 abandoned containers inside a building, containing approximately 4,000 kilograms of explosives, primarily ammonium nitrate-based compounds," the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon stated.

UNIFIL specialists subsequently "neutralized the material to render it harmless and eliminate any risk," without specifying to whom the explosives belonged.

Houla lies within a strip of Lebanese territory approximately ten kilometers deep along the border with Israel, which has been occupied by the Israeli military since the latest war launched in early March against Hezbollah.

Hezbollah dragged Lebanon into the regional conflict on March 2 by attacking Israel in a show of support for Iran, triggering a sweeping Israeli military response by land and air.

The discovery of these explosives inevitably revives the trauma of the Beirut port explosion on August 4, 2020. On that day, nearly 2,750 tons of ammonium nitrate that had been stored carelessly for several years detonated, killing more than 220 people, injuring over 6,500, and devastating a large part of the capital.

Six years on, the judicial investigations and scientific inquiries aimed at determining the causes of the disaster and establishing accountability continue to stall, with judges and experts facing intense political pressure.

Many observers believe that Hezbollah bears significant responsibility for the storage of this explosive material, as the pro-Iranian group at the time exerted considerable influence over the port of Beirut — the main entry point for Iranian weapons and various smuggled goods used to fund the organization.