The Situation Room - February 11th

Good morning everyone,

I’m Atlas, and welcome to The Situation Room! We cover the most high impact geopolitical developments every Wednesday!

Today’s topics:

• Netanyahu Meets Trump In D.C. Today For 6th Time Since Trump’s Inauguration

• Israeli Cabinet Approves Expanded Annexation Of West Bank, Western Allies Voice Disapproval

• Obama Era Greenhouse Gas Regulations To Get Repealed

Netanyahu Meets Trump In D.C. Today For 6th Time Since Trump’s Inauguration

_{By: Atlas}

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu arrived in Washington yesterday for a meeting with President Trump today, accelerating a visit originally scheduled for February 18. The trip — Netanyahu's sixth to the United States since Trump's second inauguration — was moved up after the conclusion of indirect U.S.-Iran talks in Oman last Friday and Trump's characterization of those discussions as "very good."

Netanyahu's office announced the change in a statement on Saturday, signaling that the prime minister's central concern is the scope of any potential deal between Washington and Tehran. "The prime minister believes that all negotiations must include limiting the ballistic missiles and ending support for the Iranian axis," the statement read.

The visit comes at a particularly charged moment. A large U.S. military presence remains positioned near Iran, open-source flight trackers have flagged an unusual surge of American heavy-lift aircraft moving into the Middle East, and Iran's foreign minister has publicly declared that his country's missile program is "in no way negotiable, neither now nor at any time in the future."

The Oman talks and what followed

The U.S. and Iran held indirect talks on Friday in Oman, with American Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner — Trump's son-in-law, who holds no official administration role — representing the U.S. side. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi led Tehran's delegation. In an unusual move, the U.S. also brought Admiral Brad Cooper, head of Central Command, to the table.

After the talks, Araghchi told journalists that "nuclear talks and the resolution of the main issues must take place in a calm atmosphere, without tension and without threats." He said diplomats would return to their capitals, signaling the round had concluded.

Trump, speaking aboard Air Force One on Friday, said the U.S. had "very good" talks and that "we're going to meet again early next week." He added that Iran "wants to make a deal very badly, as they should." When asked whether he would accept a deal limited to Iran's nuclear capabilities, Trump did not directly answer but said, "They're willing to do much more than they would have a year and a half ago or even a year ago."

The day after the talks, Witkoff and Kushner visited the USS Abraham Lincoln, the aircraft carrier positioned within striking distance of Iran. Central Command confirmed the visit in a statement.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio said earlier in the week that any negotiations needed to address Iran's nuclear program, its ballistic missile capabilities, its violent crackdown on domestic protesters, and its support for regional proxy groups. Iran has insisted that only the nuclear file is on the table.

Netanyahu's push for a broader deal

Netanyahu has spent decades trying to prevent or derail U.S.-Iran diplomacy, and the current round is no exception. He famously took credit for persuading Trump to withdraw from the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action during the president's first term. Trump unilaterally exited that agreement in 2018.

Now, with a new round of talks underway, the Israeli prime minister is pushing for conditions he knows Tehran is unlikely to accept. His demand that any deal include restrictions on Iran's ballistic missile program and an end to its support for groups like Hezbollah and Hamas mirrors the maximalist position he laid out during his April 2025 visit to Washington, when he called for a "full" disarmament along the lines of the 2003 Libyan model.

Iran has repeatedly rejected these demands. In an interview with Al Jazeera on Saturday, Araghchi said Iran's ballistic missile production was "never negotiable" because it relates to the country's defense. He was more flexible on the nuclear component, saying Iran was "ready to reach a reassuring agreement on enrichment" while maintaining that enrichment itself was an "inalienable right."

Separately, diplomats from Egypt, Turkey, and Qatar reportedly offered Iran a proposal in which Tehran would halt enrichment for three years, send its highly enriched uranium out of the country, and pledge not to initiate the use of ballistic missiles. The details of Iran's response to that proposal have not been made public.

Israeli security officials have said recent discussions with U.S. counterparts showed broad alignment on the threat posed by Iran, operational targets, and desired outcomes. But the Israeli establishment remains uncertain about how far Trump is willing to go. A limited U.S. military action that begins but does not finish, Israeli officials have cautioned, could leave Iran emboldened and claiming endurance against both American and Israeli forces.

Military buildup and the threat of force

The diplomatic track is playing out against a backdrop of significant military positioning. Trump has repeatedly threatened to use force if Iran does not agree to a deal, and the deployment of the USS Abraham Lincoln carrier strike group to the region has kept that threat visible.

Open-source intelligence accounts reported over the weekend that as many as 112 U.S. Air Force C-17 transport aircraft were either arriving or en route to the Middle East, based on civilian flight-tracking data. Airforce Technology confirmed multiple C-17s and other aircraft at hubs including Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar and Ramstein Air Base in Germany, though it could not verify the full count.

The Ninth Air Force (Air Forces Central) announced a multi-day readiness exercise to "deploy, disperse, and sustain combat airpower across the U.S. Central Command area of responsibility." The command did not provide specific dates or link the exercise to any named operation.

The military activity follows a pattern established since late January, when Trump began positioning forces in the region after Iran's crackdown on nationwide protests. Netanyahu briefed Trump at Mar-a-Lago in December on intelligence that Iran was rebuilding its ballistic missile program. Shortly after, Trump expressed support for future Israeli strikes on Iran if the regime continued missile development or rapidly pursued nuclear weapons.

The June 2025 conflict remains a critical backdrop. A 12-day war that began with Israeli strikes against Iran killed more than 1,100 Iranians, and the U.S. subsequently bombed three of Iran's key nuclear sites. Recent satellite imagery shows the entrances to Iran's largest underground research facility at Isfahan have been buried in soil — an apparent precaution against another possible attack.

Other issues on the table

While Iran dominates the agenda, the meeting also comes days after Israel's security cabinet approved sweeping measures to expand Israeli control over the occupied West Bank — a move Trump publicly opposed on Tuesday, telling Axios, "I am against annexation."

The timing of Netanyahu's visit may also be strategic in avoiding an appearance at the inaugural meeting of Trump's Board of Peace on February 19, which will include representatives from countries Israel views skeptically, including Turkey and Qatar. Netanyahu is said to be uncomfortable appearing alongside leaders of those nations for domestic political reasons, with Israeli elections set for October.

Netanyahu, 76, remains a front-runner in those elections, though he faces scrutiny over the October 7, 2023 security failures and ongoing corruption proceedings. Every visit to Washington offers an opportunity to project strength and closeness with the American president — and Trump remains highly popular among Israeli voters.

What remains unclear is whether Netanyahu will leave Washington with the hardline U.S. posture on Iran he is seeking, or whether Trump — who has shown a preference for deal-making over military escalation in recent days — will chart a course the Israeli prime minister did not anticipate.

Subscribe to The Situation Room to read the rest.