Roving Periscope: Trump’s ‘mock fight’ with Bibi; Iran war, talks, on

Virendra Pandit

New Delhi: Confusion confounded in West Asia.

Iran, which called off peace talks with the US, is not buying the ‘mock fight’ between President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin “Bibi” Netanyahu and is ready to target more American allies in West Asia, even as it resumed both attacks on the US allies, and talks with the US, the media reported on Tuesday.

In their widely publicised ‘heated exchange’ on Monday, Trump reportedly confronted Netanyahu in a telephonic tense call over Israel’s strikes on Hezbollah in Lebanon. “The exchange exposed strain between US diplomacy with Iran and Israel’s stated military course.”

Iran has made clear that a ceasefire in Lebanon is a key condition for any deal with the United States. Iranian state media also reported that talks with Washington are being suspended as Israel continues to bomb Lebanon. Trump seized on this straw and ‘pushed’ Netanyahu to halt attacking Lebanon—at least for now.

After this scripted ‘showdown,’ Israel reportedly halted its Lebanon strikes, giving Trump the opportunity to mount pressure on Iran to sign the peace deal on America’s dotted lines. However, Tehran appeared to be in no hurry and wanted the Trump-Bibi duo to play out their last cards.

On Monday, Iran resumed missile attacks on Kuwait and other select targets while the US also restarted attacks on Iranian assets and islands—even as Trump first claimed ‘progress’ in truce talks, and then said he did not care if these very talks had closed.

The mock fight!

Trump reportedly erupted at Netanyahu in a profanity-filled phone call over Israel’s escalating military campaign in Lebanon, as Washington scrambled to prevent the conflict from derailing sensitive negotiations.

Their exchange came after Israel ordered strikes on Hezbollah targets in Beirut’s southern suburbs and expanded ground operations in southern Lebanon, moves that raised fears of a wider regional war and prompted fresh warnings from Tehran.

According to Axios, now seen as Trump’s mouthpiece, the US President accused Netanyahu of pushing Israel toward international isolation and jeopardizing US diplomatic efforts with Iran. He called Netanyahu “crazy” and complained that the Israeli leader was acting without regard for the consequences.

One US official quoted Trump as telling Netanyahu: “You’re f*****g crazy. You’d be in prison if it weren’t for me. I’m saving your ass. Everybody hates you now. Everybody hates Israel because of this.”
A second source said Trump, visibly angry during the call, at one point shouted: “What the f**k are you doing?”

The alleged confrontation followed a sharp escalation on Monday after Netanyahu and his Defense Minister Israel Katz ordered attacks on Hezbollah-controlled areas of Beirut’s Dahiyeh district, citing repeated Hezbollah violations of a ceasefire and attacks on Israeli territory.

Their announcement sent residents fleeing the Lebanese capital’s southern suburbs amid fears of major airstrikes. Iran, which backs Hezbollah, warned that continued Israeli attacks in Lebanon could undermine ongoing negotiations with the US, aimed at easing tensions after months of conflict.

US officials said Trump understood Israel’s argument that it was responding to Hezbollah rocket and drone attacks, but believed Netanyahu was escalating the conflict disproportionately. One official said Trump was particularly disturbed by the civilian death toll in Lebanon and objected to large-scale strikes targeting single Hezbollah commanders.

He also claimed Hezbollah, through intermediaries, had agreed to halt attacks on Israel. “I had a very productive call with Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu,” Trump wrote on Truth Social, adding that “there will be no Troops going to Beirut.”

On his part, Netanyahu, however, signalled no change in Israel’s broader military posture. In a statement issued after the call, he said Israel would continue operations in southern Lebanon and warned that attacks on Beirut remained an option if Hezbollah did not stop firing on Israel.

“Our position remains the same,” Netanyahu said.

But Trump went ahead with his self-proclaimed ‘victory.’ He said he persuaded Netanyahu to call off the strike on Beirut, following which the Israeli leader “turned his troops around.”

Earlier, Iran had warned it could pull out of negotiations with the US in response to Israel’s actions in Lebanon.

The report said Trump also claimed he had helped prevent Netanyahu from going to prison, referring to his backing during the Israeli leader’s corruption trial.

Trump warned that Israeli threats to strike Beirut would deepen Israel’s global isolation. Another official said he was angered by civilian deaths in Lebanon and strikes on buildings used to target Hezbollah figures.

Netanyahu’s response

The Israeli PM, in a statement after the phone call, said he told Trump that Israel would attack targets in Beirut if Hezbollah did not stop attacking Israel, and that in the meantime, Israel would continue its operations in southern Lebanon.

Axios claimed that, in reality, Trump had “steamrolled” Netanyahu on the call. “Bibi said, ‘OK, OK, just make sure everything is taken care of.”

Lebanon later announced a partial ceasefire between Hezbollah and Israel on Monday in what would amount to a limited de-escalation of a conflict that has killed thousands of people and inflamed the broader US-Israeli war with Iran.

According to Lebanon’s embassy in Washington, the agreement would not end the conflict in the country, but it calls for Israel to refrain from strikes on Beirut and its suburbs controlled by Hezbollah, while the Iran-aligned group would halt its attacks on Israel.

Iran’s chief negotiator with the US and parliamentary speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf spoke on Monday with his Lebanese counterpart, Nabih Berri, regarding Israel’s invasion of the country.

In a post on X, Ghalibaf said: “In my conversation with my brother, Mr Nabih Berri, the Speaker of the Lebanese Parliament, I emphasised that if the crimes of the Zionist regime in Lebanon continue, we will not only halt the dialogue process but also stand firmly against them.”

He concluded his message by declaring, “Long live the resistance! Long live the defence of the motherland! Long live the brotherhood of the Iranian and Lebanese peoples!”