The United States will have to do “something very tough” if a deal is not reached with Iran, President Donald Trump told Israel’s Channel 12 in an interview published online on Tuesday.

“Either we reach a deal or we’ll have to do something very tough,” the broadcaster quoted Trump as saying.

Trump has said he is considering sending a second aircraft carrier to the Middle East, Axios and Channel 12 reported, amid simmering tensions between Washington and Tehran over Iran’s nuclear programme and its recent crackdown on protesters.

Israel PM to meet Trump with Iran missiles high on agenda

Earlier, Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Tuesday the top priority in his talks with US President Donald Trump would be the ongoing negotiations with Iran, as he presses for a tougher US approach to Tehran’s ballistic missile programme.

So far, Iran has rejected expanding the scope of its talks with the US beyond the issue of its nuclear programme, though Washington also wants Tehran’s ballistic missile programme and its support for regional militant groups on the table.

Read More: Iran says it could dilute enriched uranium if all sanctions are lifted

The two leaders are to meet in Washington on Wednesday, their sixth such encounter in the United States since Trump returned to office a year ago.

They also met in Jerusalem in October when Trump announced a ceasefire in Gaza.

Wednesday’s meeting comes days after arch-foes Iran and the United States held talks in Oman, after which Trump said another round of negotiations would follow.

Secretary of the National Security Council, Ali Larijani, meets with the Minister of the Royal Office in the Sultanate of Oman, Sultan bin Mohammed al Numani, in Muscat, Oman, February 10, 2026.PHOTO: Reuters

Netanyahu and Trump will also meet amid growing international outrage over Israeli measures to tighten control of the occupied West Bank by allowing settlers to buy land directly from its Palestinian owners.

However, it remains unclear whether the issue will be raised in their talks, despite Trump’s past opposition to any annexation of the West Bank.

“On this trip we will discuss a range of issues: Gaza, the region, but of course first and foremost the negotiations with Iran,” Netanyahu said, in a video statement before his departure.

“I will present to the president our views regarding the principles for the negotiations.”

In an earlier statement issued over the weekend, Netanyahu’s office said he will highlight Israel’s concerns over Iran’s missile arsenal and not just the nuclear programme.

Netanyahu visit ‘destructive’

Iran’s foreign ministry spokesperson warned Tuesday that Netanyahu’s visit would have a “destructive” influence on diplomacy that is “detrimental to the region”.

Israel’s concerns came to a head during an unprecedented war between the two longtime adversaries in June last year.

Since then, Israeli officials have repeatedly warned that Iran’s missile capabilities pose a threat distinct from, and in some ways more immediate than, its nuclear programme.

Israeli officials argue that Iran could strike Israel with little warning and also overwhelm the country’s air-defence systems in a sustained conflict.

During the June war, Iran launched waves of ballistic missiles and other projectiles at Israeli territory, striking both military and civilian areas.

A new surface-to-surface 4th generation Khorramshahr ballistic missile called Khaibar with a range of 2,000 km is launched at an undisclosed location in Iran, in this picture obtained on May 25, 2023. PHOTO: REUTERS

Those that landed in densely populated areas “caused severe damage,” said Danny Citrinowicz, an Iran expert at Israel’s Institute for National Security Studies.

“I don’t think it’s like existential threat, but definitely it’s a major threat on the Israeli home front.”

Concerns over Trump’s approach –

Analysts say Netanyahu is very wary of any deal with the Iranians.

“He’s concerned that President Trump is not quite as enthusiastic about a military attack on the Iranians as Netanyahu wishes were the case,” said Guy Ziv, an associate professor at the foreign policy and global security department at American University in Washington.

Also Read: Iran says talks with US in Oman were ‘good start’

“He wants to first convince President Trump that Iran’s ballistic missiles, which he sees as a major threat to Israel, must be included in any agreement over Iran’s nuclear programme,” Ziv told AFP. “He wants to make sure that… Trump sees that as a red line as well.”

The 12-day war in June was triggered by unprecedented Israeli strikes on Iranian military and nuclear facilities, as well as residential areas.

The United States later joined the offensive, striking three Iranian nuclear sites, before a ceasefire brokered by Trump came into force.

In Israel, the war killed 30 people and caused extensive damage to property, including a hospital and several public institutions.

In October 2024 Iran fired a barrage of some 200 missiles at Israel in response to the assassinations of senior Hamas and Hezbollah.

In April 2024, against the backdrop of the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza, Iran — a key backer of the Palestinian group — launched its first ever drone and missile attack on Israel.

That strike was in retaliation for a deadly attack on Iran’s consulate in Damascus days earlier, which Tehran blamed on Israel.

Iran security chief meets Oman ruler

Trip comes after Iran and US resumed negotiations for first time since 12-day Iran-Israel war last June.

Iran’s top security official met the Sultan of Oman in Muscat on Tuesday, days after a first round of talks there between officials from Washington and Tehran last Friday.

Ali Larijani, who heads the Supreme National Security Council, and Sultan Haitham bin Tariq “discussed the latest developments in the Iranian-American negotiations”, the official Oman News Agency said.

Larijani also met Omani Foreign Minister Badr Albusaidi, who mediated Friday’s indirect talks between US and Iranian officials, according to photos shared on Larijani’s official Telegram channel.

Larijani and Sultan Haitham also explored “ways to reach a balanced and just agreement between the two sides, and emphasised the importance of returning to the table of dialogue and negotiation”.

During his trip to Muscat, Larijani also met Mohammad Abdulsalam, the spokesperson for Yemen’s Tehran-backed Houthi rebels.

Larijani will head to Qatar next, according to Iran’s foreign ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baqaei.

The trip comes after Iran and the United States resumed negotiations in Oman on Friday for the first time since the 12-day Iran-Israel war last June, which was briefly joined by the US military.

Meanwhile, Iran warned Tuesday of “destructive” influence on diplomacy ahead of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s visit to Washington for talks expected to focus on US negotiations with Tehran.

“Our negotiating party is America. It is up to America to decide to act independently of the pressures and destructive influences that are detrimental to the region,” said Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Esmail Baqaei in a weekly press briefing.

“The Zionist regime has repeatedly, as a saboteur, shown that it opposes any diplomatic process in our region that leads to peace.”