Trump confirms he vetoed Netanyahu's Iran strike plan

President Donald Trump said yesterday he’d personally asked Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu not to conduct airstrikes on Iranian nuclear facilities because such attacks could negatively affect ongoing talks with Tehran on a new deal to restrict the Islamic Republic’s nuclear weapons programme.

- ANDREW FEINBERG IN WASHINGTON DC

Asked after the Oval Office swearing in of new interim DC US attorney Jeanine Pirro to confirm reports that he’d intervened during a phone call with the Israeli leader last week, Mr Trump replied: “Well, I’d like to be honest. Yes, I did.”

Pressed further on what he told Mr Netanyahu, he said he did not think it was “appropriate” for Israel to strike Iran while the talks are ongoing. “We’re having very good discussions with them. And I said, I don’t think it’s appropriate right now, because if we can settle it with a very strong document,” he said, adding that any agreement would be “very strong with inspections”.