After Gaza truce, Israel says West Bank raids mark next front with Iran

“Iran will be a main issue on Donald Trump's agenda in the very near future, and it will have to be deliberated,” Herzog told CNN's Fareed Zakaria at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

“Iran cannot have nuclear capabilities and has to stop with its proxies and axis of evil," he said.

The rulers of Tehran, he added, are “working day in and day out even now … rushing toward the bomb and of course planning all the time terror attacks the world over and in our region."

Tensions have escalated between Iran and Israel over the past year, marked by direct military confrontations in 2024 including Iran's unprecedented missile and drone attacks on Israel in April and October.

The hostilities have raised concerns about the potential for a broader conflict between the arch enemies involving the United States, especially with President Donald Trump's return to the White House.

Saudi Arabia's Foreign Minister, Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud said on Tuesday that he does not believe President Trump's return to office increases the risk of an Iran-Israel war.

A war between Israel and Iran should be avoided, bin Farhan said in Davos on Tuesday, adding that he did not see the Trump administration contributing to the risk of direct conflict.

Meanwhile, the leaders of Britain and Israel on Tuesday vowed to continue their cooperation against the threat they say Iran poses.

In a phone call, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and his Israeli counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu “agreed to continue their close co-operation on defense and security matters in support of wider stability in the region – particularly in the face of the ongoing threat posed by Iran," according to Downing Street.

"We've got to stop some wars there are some stupid things going on," Trump told thousands of supporters at an indoor gathering in Washington DC.

"Israel would've never been hit on October 7," Trump said, "Iran was broke. Anyone that bought oil from Iran ... China passed, everybody passed."

The newly-minted head of state whose sanctions piled pressure on Iran's oil revenue in his first term and hit Tehran's spending on armed allies in the region, also ordered a deadly drone strike on a top Iranian commander, Qassem Soleimani.

Since that 2020 attack, Iranian officials have blasted Trump in strong terms, but since his November re-election, some quarters have softened their tone and mooted talks.

"They were broke; they didn't have money for Hamas, and they didn't have money for Hezbollah," Trump continued, then addressing the families: "Your sons would be alive, and they certainly wouldn't be incarcerated where they are. It's such a shame."

Later in the evening Trump inked a raft of executive orders at the White House, telling reporters that Israel had weakened Iran badly over a 15-month conflict in the region.

"They're weakened in a different way, the one attack by Israel really set them back - the pagers," Trump said, referring to an attack on Hezbollah leaders' communication devices last year which maimed many and injured Iran's envoy to Lebanon.

"And others," Trump added. "The attack on air defense was a bad attack for Iran."

Israel appears to have knocked out much of Iran's anti-air capability with an Oct. 26 series of air raids in retaliation for an Islamic Republic missile attack on Israel.

Speaking before Trump at the rally, his Mideast envoy Steve Witkoff, who was instrumental in talks which led to a Gaza-Israel ceasefire last week, told rally-goers Trump could solve the region's deepest problems.

"President Trump's leadership has redefined what is possible in the pursuit of progress and stability in the Middle East. his decisive pragmatic approach ensures that even the most entrenched conflicts are met with fresh perspectives and innovative strategies."

Trump counted the so-called Abraham Accords between several Arab countries and Israel as one of the top accomplishments of his first term.

Witkoff said with Trump's leadership he "would be engaging with leaders across the region to find pathways toward sustainable peace and stability."

"Every nation deserves the right to determine its own destiny free from the interference of foreign powers," he added, in a possible reference to regional states in Iran's orbit.

“I am confident that we will complete the defeat of Iran’s terror axis and usher in a new era of peace and prosperity for our region,” Netanyahu said addressing Trump in a video released on Monday.

“You withdrew from the dangerous Iran nuclear deal, you recognized Jerusalem as Israel’s capital … and you recognized Israel's sovereignty over the Golan Heights,” Netanyahu said, reflecting on Trump’s first term and his pro-Israel, anti-Iran policies.

With Trump’s return to the White House, significant shifts in US foreign policy are anticipated, particularly in the Middle East.

Israel's former defense minister Yoav Gallant also mentioned Iran in his congratulation note on Trump's inauguration day.

"Our ties are critical to Israel’s security and prosperity - to the return of the hostages, to the removal of the Iranian threat, to achieving our common goal of dismantling the ‘axis of evil’," he wrote in a post on X.

The Trump administration is expected to take a hard stance against Tehran. Both the president and senior members of his team have promised a return of the so-called maximum pressure campaign on Iran.

During his 2024 campaign, Trump said he wished prosperity for Iran but stressed the long-standing Washington red line that the theocracy must not be allowed to acquire nuclear weapons.

Anticipating potential pressures, some in Iran including senior aides to Iran’s president Masoud Pezeshkian have openly called for talks with the Trump administration, suggesting even that the country’s markets can be opened to American companies.

This has not gone down well with the more hardline factions of the Islamic Republic, who inspired and encouraged by the supreme leader Ali Khamenei, warn against any advance by Tehran toward Washington.

"Iran has never discussed its military capabilities with anyone and never will," spokesperson Esmail Baghaei said, when asked if Iranian diplomats had addressed potential missile limitations during their meeting with European representatives last week.

The issue of limiting the country's long-range missiles has been a topic of discussion for years.

When the 2015 JCPOA nuclear agreement was signed, Tehran committed not to develop missiles capable of delivering nuclear warheads. The United Nations recognizes the agreement as part of Resolution 2231, which formalized the terms of the JCPOA.

“Paragraph 3 of Annex B of resolution 2231 (2015) calls upon Iran not to undertake any activity related to ballistic missiles designed to be capable of delivering nuclear weapons, including launches using such ballistic missile technology,” it reads in part.

Iran has continued the research and development of ballistic missiles, insisting that these missiles are not intended to carry nuclear weapons.

During Donald Trump's first term as president, the administration demanded that Iran halt its missile program as a precondition for negotiating a new nuclear agreement following its withdrawal from the JCPOA in 2018.

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In 2024, amid rising tensions in the region, Tehran launched hundreds of ballistic missiles targeting Israel on two occasions. While most of the missiles were intercepted by Israel and its allies' air defense systems, a few caused damage inside Israel.

Although Tehran has not developed nuclear weapons, expert have cautioned that its ballistic missiles could be modified to carry warheads if it chooses to pursue them in the future, potentially following the North Korean model.

Tehran, already burdened by international sanctions, is bracing for an even tougher sanctions regime as Donald Trump makes his return to the White House. This has prompted growing calls from some Iranian government officials and politicians for negotiations with the incoming administration to ease US sanctions.

In comments to reporters, Baghaei repeated previous threats by Tehran that if UN sanctions are brought back this year as part of the JCPOA “snapback mechanism,” Iran might withdraw from the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).

Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, however, has yet to signal any willingness to compromise on key issues, such as high-level uranium enrichment or the ballistic missile program.

When a reporter asked the spokesman about leaving the NPT as a retaliatory option, Baghaei said, "If the snapback mechanism is used as a tool to pressure Iran or extract concessions, our response will be proportional. It has been clearly stated that any misuse of this mechanism means there will no longer be justification for Iran to remain in certain existing agreements. This position has been expressed before as well."

"Iran is on its back foot thanks to the leadership of [Israeli Prime Minister] Bibi [Benjamin] Netanyahu and the Israelis," Waltz said, adding that the Tehran's "air defenses are destroyed" after two massive airstrikes from Israel last year.

Speaking on CBC’s "Face the Nation" on Sunday, Waltz credited Israeli operations for what he called a strategic shift in the Middle East.

He highlighted Israel's targeting of Hamas and Hezbollah leaders in weakening Iran's regional alliances, as well as last month's overthrow by Islamist rebels of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad as critical blows to Iran’s influence.

Asked whether President-elect Donald Trump would support an Israeli strike on Iran’s nuclear facilities under what the Trump administration has promised to be a 'maximum pressure' approach to Iran, Waltz said: "This is a moment to make those key decisions, and we'll be doing that over the next month."

Waltz assumes his role as national security adviser on Monday.