Israel says Netanyahu will meet with Trump on Wednesday about Iran talks

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will meet with U.S. President Donald Trump in Washington on Wednesday about American talks with Iran, his office said Saturday, while Iran's foreign minister threatened U.S. military bases in the region a day after the discussions.

“The prime minister believes that all negotiations must include limiting the ballistic missiles, and ending support for the Iranian axis,” Netanyahu’s office said in a brief statement, referring to Tehran's support for militant groups, including Hezbollah in Lebanon and Hamas in the Palestinian territories. Trump and Netanyahu last met in December.

There was no immediate White House comment.

The U.S. and the Islamic Republic of Iran held indirect talks on Friday in Oman that appeared to return to the starting point on how to approach discussions over Tehran’s nuclear program.

Trump called the talks “very good” and said more were planned for early next week. Washington was represented by Middle East special envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law.

Trump has repeatedly threatened to use force to compel Iran to reach a deal on its nuclear program after sending the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln and other warships to the region amid Tehran’s crackdown on nationwide protests that killed thousands.

Gulf Arab nations fear an attack could spark a regional war, with memories fresh of the 12-day Israel-Iran war in June.

For the first time in negotiations with Iran, the U.S. on Friday brought its top military commander in the Middle East to the table. U.S. Navy Adm. Brad Cooper, head of the military’s Central Command, then visited the USS Abraham Lincoln on Saturday with Witkoff and Kushner, the command said in a statement.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told journalists Friday that “nuclear talks and the resolution of the main issues must take place in a calm atmosphere, without tension and without threats.” He said that diplomats would return to their capitals, signaling that this round of negotiations was over.

On Saturday, Araghchi told the Al Jazeera satellite news network that if the U.S. attacks Iran, his country doesn't have the ability to strike the U.S. “and therefore has to attack or retaliate against U.S. bases in the region.”

He said there is “very, very deep distrust” after what happened during the previous talks, when the U.S. bombed Iranian nuclear sites during last year's Israel-Iran war.

Araghchi also said the “missile issue” and other defense matters are “in no way negotiable, neither now nor at any time in the future.”

Tehran has maintained that these talks will be only on its nuclear program.

However, Al Jazeera reported that diplomats from Egypt, Turkey and Qatar offered Iran a proposal in which Tehran would halt enrichment for three years, send its highly enriched uranium out of the country and pledge to “not initiate the use of ballistic missiles.”

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Wednesday that the talks needed to include all those issues.

Israel, a close U.S. ally, believes Iran is pursuing a nuclear weapon and wants its program scrapped, though Iran has insisted that its atomic plans are for peaceful purposes. Israel also wants a halt to Iran's ballistic missile program and its support for militant groups in the region.

Araghchi, speaking at a forum in Qatar on Saturday, accused Israel of destabilizing the region, saying that it “breaches sovereignties, it assassinates official dignitaries, it conducts terrorist operations, it expands its reach in multiple theaters.” He criticized Israel’s treatment of Palestinians and called for “comprehensive and targeted sanctions against Israel, including an immediate arms embargo.”

In this photo released by the Iranian Foreign Ministry, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, center, heads to venue for talks between Iran and the U.S., in Muscat, Oman, Friday, Feb. 6, 2026. (Iranian Foreign Ministry via AP)

TOKYO (AP) — Japan on Friday slammed Russia's request for the extradition from the Netherlands of the president of the International Criminal Court, a Japanese national, and eight other officials of the court based in the European country.

The extradition requests came after Moscow issued warrants for the nine in response to the ICC’s 2023 arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin over the war in Ukraine. The Moscow City Court last year sentenced the nine in absentia to prison terms.

A high-ranking Japanese official said Friday that Tokyo has expressed its protest to Moscow over the requests.

“Measures targeting individuals connected to the ICC are unjust and unacceptable,” Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Masanao Ozaki told reporters. “We regret that Russia made extradition requests to multiple countries nevertheless.”

Ozaki said Japan would “respond appropriately, including lodging additional protests.”

His comments came after Russia's Prosecutor General's Office on Thursday submitted requests to the Netherlands and a number of other countries for the extradition of the nine ICC staff, including its president, Tomoko Akane.

Moscow has accused the ICC of issuing arrest warrants against Russian citizens in violation of fundamental principles and norms of international law without any evidence, according to the Russian state news agency Tass.

Relations between Japan and Russia have worsened since Putin visited a Pacific Island chain claimed by Japan in August. The Soviet Union captured the islands from Japan in the final days of World War II, leading to the dispute that has kept the two countries from signing a peace treaty formally ending their hostilities.

Japan has also struggled to balance its support for the ICC and ties with the United States, which does not support the court.

Also, Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi has been criticized at home, including for balancing her close alliance with the U.S. with Japan's backing of the Netherlands-based court.

”We have consistently supported the ICC and will continue to do so,” Takaichi told a parliamentary session Friday.

Washington has accused the ICC of overstepping its mandate and has imposed sanctions on Akane and about a dozen other court staffers in retaliation for investigations into Israeli officials over the war in the Gaza Strip and probes into the conduct of U.S. military personnel in Afghanistan.

The U.S. measures freeze any assets held in U.S. jurisdictions by those sanctioned and prevent court officials and their families from entering the U.S.

FILE - Judge Tomoko Akane walks before delivering the verdict in the Al Hassan case at the International Criminal Court in The Hague, Netherlands, Wednesday Nov. 20, 2024. (Eva Plevier/Pool Photo via AP, file)