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Trump given four Iran demands by Israel's Netanyahu

Story by Shane Croucher

Newsweek, February 16, 2026

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he had told U.S. President Donald Trump at their recent meeting to make four key demands of Iran in any deal to avert military strikes against the Islamic regime in Tehran, though he doubted that an agreement was possible.

Netanyahu’s four demands were that all enriched uranium must leave Iran; that it have no enrichment capability going forward; that limits on the range of Iranian ballistic missiles are enforced; and that Iranian proxy militias in the region, which the Israeli leader called an “axis of terror,” are dismantled.

U.S. officials are engaged in last-gasp diplomacy with Iran to make a deal that would avoid military strikes that threaten to topple the country’s clerical leadership in place since the 1979 revolution.

Such a move would be a pivotal moment for the Middle East, which could plunge into a devastating regional war—or embark on a new chapter free from Iranian aggression and the instability it fuels via its proxy forces.

The talks are also a major test of self-styled global peacemaker Trump’s diplomatic strategy of peace through strength.

U.S. President Donald Trump, right, holds a press conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at his Mar-a-Lago Club on December 29, 2025, in Palm Beach, Florida.

“I will not hide from you that I express my skepticism of any deal with Iran, because, frankly, Iran is reliable on one thing, they lie and they cheat,” Netanyahu said at the conference of presidents of major American Jewish organizations on Sunday.

“But I said that if a deal is to be reached, it should have several components that we believe are important, not only for the security of Israel, but for the security of the world, the United States, the region, the world.”

Iran Talks Under Growing Shadow of U.S. Military Buildup

Israel and the U.S. believe Iran harbors ambitions to develop a nuclear weapon, which Tehran denies. Iran says its nuclear program is for civilian energy purposes, though it has stockpiles of uranium enriched to a purity beyond what is needed for that.

Iran has already said it has a red line on its ability to enrich uranium as talks with U.S. officials continue.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said he is in Geneva holding talks with the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the global nuclear watchdog, for “deep technical discussions” ahead of his U.S. talks on Tuesday.

“I am in Geneva with real ideas to achieve a fair and equitable deal,” Araghchi said in a Monday post on X. “What is not on the table: submission before threats.”

Trump remains open to a deal with Iran, but warned of severe consequences if one cannot be struck.

He has sent a second warship to the Middle East as part of a large-scale buildup of military hardware there so the U.S. can strike Iran and protect regional allies and its assets within them from Iranian retaliation, such as the Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar.

The USS Abraham Lincoln carrier strike group was moved into the Middle East in late January, and now a second carrier, the USS Gerald R. Ford, is redeploying there from the Caribbean.

There has also been a surge in assets such as fighter jets, refueling tankers, drones, and missile‑defense systems to American bases in the Middle East, all part of the preparations for Trump giving the green light on action against Iran.

Trump Broadens Goals on Iran

Trump originally threatened to strike Iran in support of protesters in the country, who suffered a brutal crackdown at the hands of the regime’s security forces, leaving thousands of people dead.

Mass unrest broke out over the country’s dire economic situation and broader unhappiness with the ruling elite.

But Trump has since sought a wider deal with Iran, using the threat of military action to force Tehran to the table to discuss the nuclear issue, its missile capabilities, and its funding of militant proxies such as Hezbollah in Lebanon and the Houthis in Yemen.

Trump had told reporters on Friday that a change in power in Iran “would be the best thing that could happen” after he visited troops at Fort Bragg in North Carolina.

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Trump given four Iran demands by Israel's Netanyahu