Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and United States President Donald Trump held a 40-minute phone call on Monday evening, shortly after Iran announced that it would soon respond to Washington’s latest proposal for a nuclear deal.

Following the call, Netanyahu held a high-level security consultation focused on Iran.

In a sparse readout of the conversation, the Prime Minister’s Office said the two leaders discussed Washington’s ongoing nuclear talks with Tehran.

“President Trump told the Prime Minister that the United States has presented a reasonable proposal to Iran and is expected to receive its response in the coming days,” said the statement from Netanyahu’s office.

It added that Trump informed Netanyahu “that he plans to hold another round of talks with Iran over the weekend.”

The statement did not provide any details about what Netanyahu said during the call.

For his part, Trump told reporters at the White House that the conversation went “very well” and covered a variety of issues, including the ongoing nuclear talks, adding that US has a meeting with Iran on Thursday.

Iran’s foreign ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei later said the “next round of Iran–US indirect negotiations was being planned for next Sunday in Muscat,” according to a statement cited by Reuters.

Netanyahu stopped testifying earlier than scheduled in his corruption trial to hold the call with Trump, which came as Jerusalem and Washington wait for Hamas’s answer to a Gaza ceasefire and hostage release deal, and as his ultra-Orthodox coalition partners are threatening to topple the government if a Haredi enlistment exemption bill is not passed.

Netanyahu’s meeting after speaking with Trump included senior security officials, National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, Defense Minister Israel Katz, Shas leader Aryeh Deri and Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer, according to Hebrew media.

Channel 13 later reported that........

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