Trump and Netanyahu discussed big three options to snuff out Iran in Oval Office meeting

President Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday focused on “big three” options for ending the war with Iran on Wednesday, coming up with new ideas — such as cutting off Iran’s trade by ground — in a “clinical” conversation, senior Israeli officials said.“There are usually a lot more jokes.The president is usually a lot more jovial,” one Israeli official who was in the room for the discussion told reporters on Wednesday.

“This was a very, very serious conversation — cerebral.”The leaders focused on three lines of focus to end Iran’s nuclear program and push them to reopen the Strait of Hormuz: getting a good deal, tightening the economic noose around Tehran and expanding the military campaign.Netanyahu “did not tell the president” which to choose, and no decisions were made on which path Trump would take, a separate senior Israeli official said.“The value of what we did … is I think we added some new ideas,” the person said.On the diplomatic track, Israel believes there is one person in the Iranian regime that is more amenable to fair negotiations with the US: Tehran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, whom the official called a “realist” despite his Islamist ideology.“I’m not sure that the difference is the ideologues of the moderates — it’s more the realists who understand that over time, his regime will suffer from the continuation of the sanctions,” the person said.The senior official said Americans have a “lack of understanding of the fanaticism” in the Middle East — and getting a “favorable deal” remains elusive as the radical Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps continues strikes on US forces.“If the diplomacy is coupled with very, very strong means, very strong pressures — which I’m not sure that I’m going to itemize here — yeah, I think it could happen,” the senior official said of reaching a deal to denuclearize Iran and reopen the Strait of Hormuz.“It’s bas...