Trump and Netanyahu meet in Vatican to discuss Iran nuclear deal

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and US President Donald Trump have reached a deal to suspend US sanctions on Iran, and Trump is expected to meet with Israeli President Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday. 

Trump’s decision to lift the sanctions has angered Iran, which is seeking to build a nuclear weapons arsenal that could threaten the US and Israel, and he has warned that the move could put US and Israeli lives at risk. 

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani has said the deal was the “right thing to do”, according to state media, but he has also called for a halt to the US military buildup in the region. 

Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman said Trump and his US counterpart, Joe Biden, would be speaking on Monday morning. 

“We have discussed the agreement and we discussed the future of the negotiations.

The future of our negotiations lies in the political process and not in the negotiation of a deal,” Lieberman told Israel’s Channel 2. 

He also said he was hopeful Trump would meet Netanyahu, who has been under fire for his response to the crisis in Ukraine, which saw a wave of protests across Europe.

“I’m hoping that Trump will meet Netanyahu,” he said. 

Netanyahu and Trump were in the Vatican last month to discuss the Iran nuclear agreement, which was signed in July by Iran and six world powers, but Iran is still holding out for a more ambitious deal that could allow it to build an arsenal of weapons of mass destruction. 

The two leaders have also been in direct contact since Trump announced that he would impose sanctions on Iranian individuals and entities and limit the US’s access to Iranian oil. 

After a meeting in March, Trump said the United States would lift the US sanctions that had been in place for more than a decade, but it is unclear whether that will happen in time for the nuclear deal. 

US President Donald J Trump shakes hands with Israeli Prime Ministers Benjamin Netanyahu (L) and Joseph Lieberman after a joint press conference in Jerusalem March 30, 2019.US President Trump, left, and Israeli Prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, centre, attend the joint press briefing in Jerusalem, March 30. 

According to Reuters, the agreement will lift sanctions on banks and oil companies in exchange for lifting US military cooperation with Israel.

The two countries have agreed to suspend sanctions on a range of Iran-related entities and individuals, but Trump said it would take years before Iran fully removes all its sanctions on US individuals and businesses. 

In a statement, Biden said on Sunday that Trump had agreed to “restore confidence in the United Nations Security Council, and that’s what we’ve done by lifting the sanctions on individuals and companies.” 

Trump has also told Reuters that he will hold talks with his Israeli counterpart, Benjamin Netanyahu.