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Trump’s Iran ‘Nuclear’ Signals Raise Concerns in Tel Aviv

US President-elect Donald Trump delivers remarks at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida, US, December 16, 2024. REUTERS/Brian Snyder
US President-elect Donald Trump delivers remarks at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida, US, December 16, 2024. REUTERS/Brian Snyder
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Trump’s Iran ‘Nuclear’ Signals Raise Concerns in Tel Aviv

US President-elect Donald Trump delivers remarks at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida, US, December 16, 2024. REUTERS/Brian Snyder
US President-elect Donald Trump delivers remarks at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida, US, December 16, 2024. REUTERS/Brian Snyder

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government is concerned about signals from US President-elect Donald Trump, particularly regarding Iran and the West Bank, political sources in Tel Aviv said.

The sources indicated Trump is seeking a nuclear deal with Tehran rather than a military strike and appears unsupportive of any Israeli move to annex the West Bank.

Trump’s aim, the sources added, is to send a clear message to Iran that both military and diplomatic options remain on the table to address its nuclear threat.

He is also leveraging the possibility of an Israeli attack as a means of pressure.

Trump is reluctant to go to war with Iran and does not see the need to completely destroy its nuclear facilities, a goal Israel cannot achieve alone, political sources said.

The US President-elect favors a major Israeli strike supported by the United States from a distance rather than a large-scale joint military operation, which Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government is pushing for.

Israeli broadcaster i24NEWS reported that Trump told Netanyahu he would address Iran’s nuclear program but opposed Israeli plans to annex parts of the West Bank.

The report added that Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich’s comment that “2025 will be the year of annexation” drew criticism from Republican Party sources, who warned that annexation would harm Israel’s international standing.

Israeli media said Trump and Netanyahu held talks on Saturday, while Netanyahu’s envoy, Adam Boehler, held meetings in Israel to discuss key issues.

Israeli analysts said on Monday that Netanyahu is unlikely to order a strike on Iran’s nuclear facilities, citing domestic divisions over judicial reforms and a lack of clear support from Trump.

They noted Iran has not yet decided to build a nuclear weapon, reducing the urgency for military action.

Nahum Barnea, a columnist for Yedioth Ahronoth, said regional developments in Syria, Lebanon, and Gaza, along with changes in US leadership, have created a rare opportunity to strike Iran.

“Iran’s air defenses are weaker, flight paths are open, and the threat of an Iranian counterattack has diminished,” Barnea wrote.

Still, he said Netanyahu remains hesitant, recalling how the prime minister abandoned a similar plan in 2011 and blamed Israeli security officials and the Obama administration for the retreat.

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World

Trump Says Iran Wants Deal, US ‘Armada’ Larger Than in Venezuela Raid

US President Donald Trump signs executive orders in the Oval Office at the White House, Washington, DC, USA, 30 January 2026. (EPA)
US President Donald Trump signs executive orders in the Oval Office at the White House, Washington, DC, USA, 30 January 2026. (EPA)
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Trump Says Iran Wants Deal, US ‘Armada’ Larger Than in Venezuela Raid

US President Donald Trump signs executive orders in the Oval Office at the White House, Washington, DC, USA, 30 January 2026. (EPA)
US President Donald Trump signs executive orders in the Oval Office at the White House, Washington, DC, USA, 30 January 2026. (EPA)

President Donald Trump said Thursday he believed Tehran wanted to make a deal to avoid military action, adding that the US "armada" near Iran was bigger than the one he dispatched to topple Venezuela's leader.

"We have a large armada, flotilla, call it whatever you want, heading toward Iran right now, even larger than what we had in Venezuela," the Republican president told reporters in the Oval Office.

"Hopefully we'll make a deal. If we do make a deal, that's good. If we don't make a deal, we'll see what happens."

Asked if he had given Iran a deadline to make a deal on its nuclear program, ballistic missiles and other issues, Trump said "yeah I have" but added that "only they know for sure" what it was.

Trump, however, cited what he said was Iran's decision to halt executions of protesters -- after a crackdown in which rights groups say more than 6,000 people were killed -- as evidence to show Tehran was ready to comply.

"I can say this, they do want to make a deal," Trump said.

Trump declined to say whether, if Iran did not reach a deal, he planned a repeat of the dramatic operation in Venezuela in which US forces captured president Nicolas Maduro.

"I don't want to talk about anything having to do with what I'm doing militarily," he said.

World

‘He Probably Would’ve Survived’: Iran Targeting Hospitals in Crackdown

A bus burned during protests on a street in Tehran, Iran, January 16, 2026. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via Reuters
A bus burned during protests on a street in Tehran, Iran, January 16, 2026. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via Reuters
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‘He Probably Would’ve Survived’: Iran Targeting Hospitals in Crackdown

A bus burned during protests on a street in Tehran, Iran, January 16, 2026. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via Reuters
A bus burned during protests on a street in Tehran, Iran, January 16, 2026. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via Reuters

Hospitals are no longer places of safety as Iran's crackdown on anti-government protests impacts all aspects of life, rights groups say, with authorities arresting wounded protesters and even the medics who treat them.

Activists accuse security forces of killing thousands of people and wounding more by directly firing on protests, often with birdshot that can leave metal pellets lodged in the body until hygienically extracted by a professional.

But rights groups say authorities have raided hospitals searching for people with wounds that suggest they were involved in protests. At least five doctors have meanwhile been arrested for treating them, according to the World Health Organization.

Amnesty International said security forces had "arrested protesters receiving treatment in hospitals", adding it had received information that medical staff in central Isfahan province had been ordered to notify authorities about patients with injuries from gunshots and shotgun pellets.

The New York-based Center for Human Rights in Iran (CHRI) said it "has documented cases in which security forces raided hospitals to identify and arrest protesters injured during demonstrations".

In apparent response to the charges, Iran's health ministry this week urged those injured in the protests to go to hospital.

"Our advice to the public is that if they suffer any kind of injury, they should not try to treat it at home, and they should not worry about going to medical centers," the health ministry said, in a statement carried by state television.

- 'Raiding medical facilities' -

Sajad Rahimi, 36, from Iran's Gulf island of Qeshm, was badly wounded after security forces shot at him when he joined a protest in the southern province of Fars at the peak of the movement on January 9, according to Norway-based NGO Iran Human Rights.

But fearing he could be shot dead by security forces in a "coup de grace", he asked friends not to take him directly to hospital, said IHR, which has investigated this and several other cases and spoke to the man's brother.

Eventually, the family transferred him to hospital, but he died as a result of a deep wound caused by live ammunition and severe bleeding.

"The doctor said that if he had arrived at the hospital just ten minutes earlier, he would probably have survived," his brother told IHR.

The group said it had reports of "security forces raiding certain medical facilities and informal shelters for the wounded in order to arrest medical staff and volunteer first responders".

The Hengaw rights group, also based in Norway, highlighted the case of Dr Ali Reza Golchni, a physician from the city of Qazvin, northwest of Tehran, who it said had been arrested "for providing medical care to injured protesters".

- 'Grave violations' -

World Health Organization director general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said he was "deeply concerned by multiple reports of health personnel and medical facilities in Iran being impacted by the recent insecurity, and prevented from delivering their essential services to people requiring care".

He said there were reports of "at least five doctors detained, while treating injured patients".

The World Medical Association (WMA) said it had received reports that security forces arrested injured protesters in both the Isfahan and the southwestern province of Chaharmahal-and-Bakhtiari.

"Hospital staff have also been instructed to report patients suffering gunfire injuries to security authorities, with non-compliance exposing them to prosecution and other reprisals," it said, citing information received by the WMA.

Hengaw also cited the case of Taher Malekshahi, a 12-year-old Kurdish-Iranian boy from Qorveh in western Iran who was severely injured after being shot in the face and eyes with pellet ammunition.

It said he lost one eye and suffered serious damage to the other, publishing a picture of his face with the boy's entire forehead pock-marked with pellet wounds.

It said while he was currently receiving intensive medical treatment in Tehran, "authorities have pressured his family to falsely claim he was wounded by 'terrorists' in exchange for state recognition as a war-disabled victim."

World

Guterres Warns of UN’s ‘Imminent Financial Collapse’

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres speaks during a press conference outlining his priorities for 2026 at UN headquarters in New York City, US, January 29, 2026. (Reuters)
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres speaks during a press conference outlining his priorities for 2026 at UN headquarters in New York City, US, January 29, 2026. (Reuters)
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Guterres Warns of UN’s ‘Imminent Financial Collapse’

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres speaks during a press conference outlining his priorities for 2026 at UN headquarters in New York City, US, January 29, 2026. (Reuters)
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres speaks during a press conference outlining his priorities for 2026 at UN headquarters in New York City, US, January 29, 2026. (Reuters)

The UN chief has told member states that the organization is at risk of "imminent financial collapse", citing unpaid fees and a budget rule that forces the global body to return unspent money, a letter seen by Reuters on Friday showed.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has repeatedly spoken about the organization's worsening liquidity crisis, but this is his starkest warning yet, and it comes as its main contributor the United States is retreating from multilateralism on numerous fronts.

"The crisis is deepening, threatening program delivery and risking financial collapse. ‌And the situation ‌will deteriorate further in the near future," Guterres wrote ‌in ⁠a letter ‌to ambassadors dated January 28.

The US has slashed voluntary funding to UN agencies and refused to make mandatory payments to its regular and peacekeeping budgets. US President Donald Trump has described the UN as having "great potential" but said it is not fulfilling that, and he has launched a Board of Peace which some fear could undermine the older international body.

Founded in 1945, the UN has 193 member states and works to maintain ⁠international peace and security, promote human rights, foster social and economic development, and coordinate humanitarian aid.

In his letter, Guterres ‌said "decisions not to honor assessed contributions that finance a ‍significant share of the approved regular ‍budget have now been formally announced."

He did not say which state or ‍states he was referring to, and a UN spokesperson was not immediately available for comment.

'KAFKAESQUE CYCLE'

Under UN rules, contributions depend on the size of the economy of each member state. The US accounts for 22% of the core budget followed by China with 20%.

But by the end of 2025 there was a record $1.57 billion in outstanding dues, Guterres said, without naming them.

“Either all Member States honor their ⁠obligations to pay in full and on time – or Member States must fundamentally overhaul our financial rules to prevent an imminent financial collapse," he said.

Guterres launched a reform task force last year, known as UN80, which seeks to cut costs and improve efficiency. To that end, states agreed to cut the 2026 budget by around 7% to $3.45 billion.

Still, Guterres warned in the letter that the organization could run out of cash by July.

One of the problems is a rule now seen as antiquated whereby the global body has to credit back hundreds of millions of dollars in unspent dues to states each year.

"In other words, we are trapped in a Kafkaesque cycle expected ‌to give back cash that does not exist," said Guterres, referring to author Franz Kafka who wrote about oppressive bureaucratic processes.