US President Donald Trump has conveyed a message to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, urging closer coordination between the two allies on the Iranian nuclear issue, according to Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem.
Speaking to Fox News after concluding a visit to Israel on Monday, Noem said she had “candid and direct” discussions with Netanyahu and conveyed the president’s desire for a unified stance as Washington continues nuclear negotiations with Tehran.
“President Trump specifically sent me here to have a conversation with the prime minister about how those negotiations are going and how important it is that we stay united and let this process play out,” Noem told the news outlet.
The development comes as US and Iranian officials recently concluded a fifth round of nuclear talks in Rome. While President Trump struck an optimistic tone about the discussions over the weekend, Israel has expressed deep reservations and is reportedly preparing for the possibility of military action against Iranian nuclear sites.
“We’ve had some very, very good talks with Iran,” President Trump told reporters on Sunday. “And I don’t know if I’ll be telling you anything good or bad over the next two days, but I have a feeling I might be telling you something good.”
Last week, CNN reported that Israeli officials, citing growing concern over Iran’s uranium enrichment, were drawing up plans for potential strikes. Tehran, in turn, has vowed to respond forcefully to any aggression and has accused Netanyahu of attempting to derail US diplomacy.
“Iran is not buying time with these talks,” Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baqaei said on Monday, reaffirming that Tehran is engaged “seriously and purposefully” in the negotiations.
His comments followed Iran’s rejection of any temporary suspension of uranium enrichment in return for an interim deal.
A key sticking point in the talks remains Iran’s insistence on its right to enrich uranium — a process crucial for nuclear fuel but also potentially usable for weaponisation. The United States has reportedly demanded that Tehran halt all enrichment activities, a stance Iranian officials say is incompatible with their rights under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).
While Iran has consistently denied seeking a nuclear weapon, Israel — which is widely believed to possess an undeclared nuclear arsenal — remains unconvinced. Netanyahu has long maintained that Iran is dangerously close to developing a bomb and has urged a tougher approach from Washington.
Noem acknowledged the Israeli scepticism, saying, “The message to the American people is: We have a president that wants peace, but also a president that will not tolerate nuclear Iran capability in the future. They will not be able to get a nuclear weapon, and this president will not allow it.”
“But he also wants this prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, to be on the same page with him,” she added.
Tensions over Iran’s nuclear ambitions have re-emerged as a dominant issue in US-Israel relations, particularly after Trump’s 2018 decision to withdraw from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) — a landmark deal that had placed curbs on Iran’s nuclear programme in exchange for sanctions relief.
Since then, the Trump administration has reimposed sweeping sanctions on Tehran, prompting Iran to ramp up its nuclear activities beyond the limits set by the JCPOA.
