Netanyahu didn’t know what was going on with Iran either, Israel caught off guard by deal’s announcement:

Read, Digital Desk : The ongoing war in West Asia has been seeing some shocking developments on a daily basis for over two months now. Now, US President Donald Trump has again shocked the world by announcing another surprise decision. This time, however, his decision seems to have surprised his staunch friend and Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu too. Let us explore how:

Consider this that just hours after issuing an alert over a major attack on Iran, Trump has made a U-turn and postponed US military strikes on Iran at the eleventh hour. Trump has said that a major deal between the US and Iran is almost finalised and likely to be signed in the coming few days.

How was Netanyahu surprised?

The latest decision taken by the US president seems to have entirely taken Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu, known to be his staunchest friend, by surprise. Sources have revealed that Trump did inform Netanyahu about his decision but even so he seemed quite shocked.

Attack halted at last minute as Trump claims an agreement.

President Donald Trump announced on the social media platform, Truth Social, that he has secured an approval from the top Iranian leadership for a deal. “Because of a productive discussion between Iran’s top leadership at a very high level, and because the US, as president, has been able to delay its air and bombing operations against Iran this evening”,Trump stated in a tweet.

Has America stopped the war with Iran?

Addressing his supporters, Trump also stated that the US had in reality stopped the war with Iran. He asserted that Iran had agreed never to have or develop nuclear weapons and called for a new ceasefire. This proposal for a new agreement included an opening of the critical Strait of Hormuz for ships and the resumption of talks on Iran’s nuclear program.

Are things fine between Netanyahu and Trump?

Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu has apparently been completely in the dark over the matter. This entire decision has shocked him like many others; according to the American website Axios, the Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu knew nothing about the decision. The Israeli authorities came to know about the announcement from Trump through his declaration. Israel had for a long time urged America to adopt military measures against Iran instead of a diplomatic settlement.

However, soon, the Israeli PM’s office was in damage control mode, posting on Twitter: President Trump and PM Netanyahu spoke by phone. Israel, while not party to the deal, welcomes Trump’s commitment that a final agreement will include provisions for the complete dismantling of Iran’s nuclear infrastructure and restriction of its missile capabilities.

The power balance between them is also clear: ‘I make the decision, not Netanyahu’.

It is also imperative to note that President Trump’s latest move has clearly revealed the deep divergence between the US and Israel regarding their strategy for Iran. During his recent interview, Trump very strongly conveyed that America holds complete control of the negotiations. On being questioned as to whether Netanyahu could hinder the process, Trump bluntly said: “He won’t have any choice, really. I make the decisions, not Netanyahu.”

In fact, Trump has been increasingly angry about Israel bombing Hezbollah targets in Lebanon during the past few months, because he felt that these actions are negatively affecting American negotiation tactics for talks with Iran and the Gulf nations.

Iran’s differing opinion: the claims are just speculative.

Interestingly, whereas the American president is extremely positive and happy about the said deal and wants it to be signed in Europe this weekend, Iran is not so welcoming of the news so far. Iran’s foreign ministry spokesman, Esmail Baghaei has described Trump’s claims as nothing more than speculation.

He told reporters that it is Qatar and Pakistan which are negotiating with Iran on behalf of America but their statements are being altered consistently. He stressed that Iran has not yet finalized any deal and it is never going to compromise on its “red lines”.