Netanyahu claims Iran war not over, as Trump cools on him

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated in a CBS 60 Minutes interview aired Sunday that the US-Israeli war against Iran is not over, asserting that Iran's stockpile of highly enriched uranium must be removed before hostilities can conclude. "It's not over, because there's still nuclear material - enriched uranium - that has to be taken out of Iran," Netanyahu said, adding that enrichment sites also need dismantling. The Israeli leader claimed President Trump shares this position, stating Trump told him, "I want to go in there." According to a Guardian analysis cited by the Jerusalem Post, Netanyahu convinced Trump to wage war against Iran by presenting the Islamic Republic as a regime on the brink of collapse, with an Iranian population ready to rise up and an Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps too weak to effectively attack US bases and allies. Former Israeli diplomat Alon Pinkas described Netanyahu as a "conman" who used Venezuela as a comparable example. However, by the end of March, US bases had been attacked, the Strait of Hormuz was closed, and the anticipated Iranian uprising failed to materialize. Pinkas said Trump appeared "very disappointed" with Netanyahu, and the Israeli prime minister began being excluded from US-Iran negotiations. The political fallout has affected both leaders. Trump's public references to Israel and Netanyahu diminished significantly, and he publicly condemned Israeli strikes on Iran's South Pars gasfield, stating he had told Netanyahu "not to do that." Trump also prohibited Israel from bombing Lebanon, saying "enough is enough" in an apparent rebuke after Netanyahu claimed a US-Iran ceasefire did not include Lebanon. Former US Ambassador Daniel Shapiro noted Trump wants the war resolved before his China trip to avoid appearing as a "supplicant" seeking Xi Jinping's help with Iran. However, former Trump National Security Advisor John Bolton observed the political bond between Trump and Netanyahu remains strong, stating Trump is "still giving Netanyahu a pretty free hand in Lebanon." Pinkas summarized their mutual political damage: "This affects Netanyahu politically, and this affects Trump politically. In other words, they have screwed each other pretty badly."