A phone call between former US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has thrown delicate negotiations over Iran’s nuclear programme into crisis, with Downing Street sources expressing ‘deep alarm’ at what they describe as ‘reckless and destabilising interference’.
The call, details of which have emerged from Israeli political circles, reportedly saw Trump encouraging Netanyahu to harden his stance against the current diplomatic push to revive the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). According to a senior Foreign Office official who spoke on condition of anonymity, the former president urged Netanyahu to ‘sabotage’ the talks, characterising the ongoing negotiations in Vienna as ‘a surrender to Tehran’.
“This is not mere meddling. This is an active effort to derail a multilaterally agreed process that has taken months of painstaking work,” the official said. “The language used was, frankly, crazy. It undermines not just US foreign policy but the stability of the entire region.”
The call comes at a critical juncture. Negotiators in Vienna are in the final stages of drafting a text that would see Iran roll back its enrichment programme in exchange for sanctions relief. European allies, including the UK, France, and Germany, have been acting as intermediaries between Washington and Tehran, given that the US is not a direct participant after Trump withdrew from the deal in 2018.
Netanyahu has long been a vocal opponent of the JCPOA, which he has called ‘a bad deal’ that fails to address Iran’s ballistic missile programme or its support for proxy militias. However, the direct intervention of a former US president into active diplomacy has raised legal and constitutional questions. ‘There is no precedent for a former commander-in-chief actively working to sabotage the foreign policy of his own country,’ noted Dr. Helena Vance, a political analyst at the Royal United Services Institute. ‘It blurs the line between private citizen and state actor, and it emboldens hardliners in Tehran who also oppose the deal.’
The timing is particularly fraught. Iran has been accelerating its nuclear programme in recent months, amassing enriched uranium at levels close to weapons-grade. The International Atomic Energy Agency reported last week that Iran now has enough material for several nuclear devices should it choose to weaponise. ‘Every day without a deal, the clock ticks closer to a catastrophic scenario,’ said a spokesperson for the UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office.
No 10 sources are now considering whether to formally raise the matter with the Biden administration. ‘We need clarity on whether this reflects any official channel or if it is purely rogue,’ the source added. ‘The White House must rein in its predecessor; this cannot be allowed to continue.’
For now, the talks in Vienna continue, but the mood has soured. European diplomats report that Iranian negotiators have become more intransigent, possibly buoyed by the prospect of a divided Western front. ‘The Iranians see this as a sign of weakness,’ a French diplomat told the Guardian. ‘They think they can wait out the US and get a better deal from a future Republican administration. That’s a dangerous miscalculation.’
The call also threatens to strain Israel’s relationship with its key ally. While Netanyahu has traditionally enjoyed broad support in Washington, his direct alignment with Trump against the policies of the incumbent president risks isolating Israel diplomatically. ‘It’s a gamble,’ said Dr. Vance. ‘Netanyahu may win short-term political points at home, but he jeopardises the long-term security relationship with the US.’
As the situation develops, one thing is clear: the path to a nuclear deal with Iran just got a lot rockier. And the price of failure is not just diplomatic embarrassment; it could be a nuclear-armed Iran and a new war in the Middle East.
