Israel is now putting a harder public condition on the emerging Iran deal: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says President Donald Trump agrees that any final agreement must remove Iran’s nuclear threat, even as the U.S. blockade of Iranian ports remains in place.
That is the new pressure point in the Iran crisis. Earlier List25 coverage tracked the reported deal framework, including uranium, sanctions, Hezbollah, and the Strait of Hormuz. The latest development is narrower and sharper: Israel is publicly saying the final deal cannot stop at reopening Hormuz or pausing the war. It must also dismantle Iran’s enrichment capacity and remove enriched uranium from Iranian territory.
Al Arabiya English reported Sunday that Netanyahu posted on Telegram that he and Trump agreed any final agreement with Iran must remove the nuclear threat posed by Tehran. Netanyahu said that would require dismantling Iran’s nuclear enrichment facilities and removing enriched nuclear material from Iran.
The same report said Trump reiterated Israel’s right to defend itself against threats on all fronts, including Lebanon. A senior Israeli official told AFP, according to Al Arabiya, that Trump had assured Netanyahu he would hold firm on demands for dismantling Iran’s nuclear program and removing all enriched uranium from Iranian territory before signing a final agreement.
The deal track is moving, but not finished
Al Jazeera reported Sunday that Trump said a possible agreement between Washington and Tehran was now “largely negotiated.” The reported memorandum would include reopening the Strait of Hormuz, talks to formally end the U.S.-Israel war on Iran, and a staged process for addressing the wider dispute.
Al Jazeera said sources told Reuters the framework would move in phases: formally ending the war, resolving the Hormuz crisis, and opening a 30-day negotiation window for a broader sustained-peace agreement. Axios, also cited by Al Jazeera, reported that the draft would include no tolls on ships moving through the strait, while Iran would be able to sell oil and the U.S. would lift its blockade on Iranian ports and waive some oil sanctions.
But that is exactly where the new Israeli line matters. If Washington is trying to turn a Hormuz and sanctions framework into a broader final deal, Netanyahu is signaling that Israel will judge the agreement by the nuclear terms, not just by whether shipping lanes reopen or fighting slows.
Iran is pushing back on Washington’s version
Al Jazeera reported that Iranian officials confirmed negotiations are ongoing and that some progress has been made, but they disputed parts of Trump’s account. Iran’s semi-official Tasnim news agency said the possible memorandum included a roadmap to end the war on all fronts and U.S. sanctions waivers during negotiations, but that Iran had not accepted actions on its nuclear program.
Iranian state-linked Fars also reported that the agreement would allow Iran to manage the Strait of Hormuz, contradicting Trump’s claim that the waterway would simply reopen on U.S. terms. Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei described the proposal as a framework agreement that would first set broad principles before details are negotiated over 30 to 60 days.
That gap is now the center of the story. The U.S. and Israel want a final deal that removes Iran’s nuclear threat. Iran says it is not seeking nuclear weapons and has not accepted immediate nuclear concessions. At the same time, Tehran wants an end to the war, security guarantees, sanctions relief, and a role around Hormuz.
The blockade has become leverage
The U.S. blockade is still part of the pressure campaign. Al Arabiya’s Netanyahu report linked the Israeli official’s comments to ongoing U.S. updates about negotiations over reopening the Strait of Hormuz and beginning talks on unresolved disputes. Google News listings also showed fresh agency headlines Sunday saying Trump was in no rush for a deal and that the U.S. blockade would stay in place.
That combination gives Washington leverage, but it also makes the talks more fragile. If the blockade stays until a final deal is signed, Tehran has less incentive to treat the framework as a clean off-ramp. If the blockade is lifted too early, Trump risks losing the pressure tool that brought Iran into the current phase of negotiations.
For shipping, the difference is immediate. Hormuz may be part of a draft agreement, but the waterway is not back to normal. Commercial operators still have to judge mine risk, insurance costs, U.S. enforcement, Iranian claims over passage rules, and the possibility that talks break down before a final document is signed.
Israel is trying to shape the finish line
The Netanyahu statement also changes the politics around the deal. It is no longer just a U.S.-Iran bargaining process with Israel watching from the side. Israel is now openly defining what it says Trump has accepted as the minimum standard for a final agreement.
That does not mean the deal is dead. It means the easiest part may be the temporary framework. A document that slows the war, starts talks, and creates a Hormuz process could still happen. The harder question is whether the final agreement can satisfy three different tests at once: Iran’s demand for sovereignty and sanctions relief, Trump’s need for a visible end to the crisis, and Netanyahu’s demand that Iran’s nuclear threat be removed.
That is why this is a distinct development from the earlier deal-details reporting. The framework may be moving forward, but the finish line just got more explicit. Netanyahu is saying the deal must dismantle Iran’s nuclear threat. Trump is keeping blockade pressure in place. Iran is saying key nuclear and Hormuz details are still unsettled. That is not a collapse, but it is a warning: the closer the parties get to a deal, the more dangerous the final conditions become.