\u201cPrime Minister Starmer should not lose control, for any reason, of Diego Garcia,\u201d Trump stressed.<\/p>\n
Earlier on Wednesday, Tehran\u2019s top diplomat, Abbas Araghchi, said Iran was \u201cdrafting\u201d a framework for future talks with the US. However, \u00a0a US official described those talks as a \u201cnothing burger,\u201d according to Channel 12.<\/p>\n
Leavitt also gave a lukewarm assessment of Tuesday\u2019s negotiations, saying \u201ca little bit of progress\u201d was made but that the sides are \u201cstill very far apart on some issues.\u201d<\/p>\n
\t \u201cThe Iranians are expected to come back to us with some more detail in the next couple of weeks, so the president will continue to watch how this plays out,\u201d Leavitt added, speaking at a press briefing.<\/p>\n Asked why the US believed a strike was necessary, given that Trump claimed Washington had already \u201cobliterated\u201d Iran\u2019s nuclear program in June, Leavitt said, \u201cThere are many reasons and arguments one could make for a strike against Iran.\u201d<\/p>\n She added, \u201cThe president has been very clear with respect to Iran and any country around the world that diplomacy is always his first option and Iran would be very wise to make a deal.\u201d<\/p>\n She did not give a deadline. The message is a repeat of what the US has conveyed in different variations for weeks as the world awaits a decision from Trump on whether he will authorize another strike on Iran.<\/p>\n Rubio to visit Israel at end of February to meet PM<\/p>\n A senior US official told Reuters that in the wake of US-Iran talks in Geneva on Tuesday, Iran is expected to submit a written proposal on how to avoid its standoff with the United States.<\/p>\n Top national security advisers met in the White House Situation Room to discuss Iran and were told all US forces deployed to the region should be in place by mid-March, the official said. In the past few weeks, the US has moved two aircraft carriers and dozens of warships and fighter jets to the Middle East.<\/p>\n A US official also confirmed to The Times of Israel that US Secretary of State Marco Rubio will visit Israel on February 28 to meet with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, amid the heightened tensions over Iran.<\/p>\n Rubio is expected to update Netanyahu on the US-Iran nuclear talks, according to two administration officials.<\/p>\n Meanwhile,\u00a0a Channel 12 report said that according to US officials, Trump is \u201cvery close\u201d to giving orders for a major strike on Iran.<\/p>\n One official said Iran has until the end of the month to agree to a package of significant concessions on its nuclear program.<\/p>\n \t Tehran has repeatedly threatened to attack Israel and US targets if it is hit.<\/p>\n Israel has carried out meetings at all echelons to prepare for the possibility that Trump gives a green light for a strike, the network reported. Israel also agrees with the negative assessment of the Geneva talks expressed by the US official, according to the report.<\/p>\n \u201cTimetables are growing shorter,\u201d a senior Israeli official told Channel 12, \u201cand that is the case in terms of military preparedness. In the end, there is one man who will decide.\u201d<\/p>\n The IDF Home Front Command and other emergency agencies were instructed to make all necessary preparations for such an outcome, reported Channel 12.<\/p>\n However, a high-level Israeli security cabinet meeting scheduled for Thursday was delayed until Sunday.<\/p>\n Iran was also apparently readying for military conflict while taking steps to keep the talks alive.<\/p>\n On Wednesday, Araghchi held a phone call with Rafael Grossi, the head of the UN nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency.<\/p>\n In the call, Araghchi \u201cstressed the Islamic Republic of Iran\u2019s focus on drafting an initial and coherent framework to advance future talks,\u201d according to a statement from the Iranian foreign ministry.<\/p>\n But an unnamed Iranian official told<\/a>\u00a0The Wall Street Journal that despite talks with the US continuing, Tehran is worried the disagreements with Washington cannot be bridged, making a military confrontation increasingly likely.<\/p>\n \u201cIran is facing its worst military threat since 1988,\u201d when Iran was fighting a war with Iraq, Iran analyst Farzan Sabet of the Geneva Graduate Institute told the newspaper. \u201cIran is preparing for strikes by putting its security and political leadership on high alert to prevent decapitation and to protect its nuclear facilities.\u201d<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/AFP__20260218__983P8P4__v1__HighRes__WhiteHousePressSecretaryKarolineLeavittDailyBri-640x400.jpg\")
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\n\t\tWhite House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt speaks during a press briefing in the Brady Press Briefing Room of the White House in Washington, DC, on February 18, 2026. (SAUL LOEB \/ AFP)<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/AP26048581878796-640x400.jpg\")
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\n\t\tWomen with Iranian flags take a group photo during a state-organized memorial ceremony for those killed during January\u2019s anti-government protests, at the Imam Khomeini Grand Mosque in Tehran, Iran, February 17, 2026. (AP\/Vahid Salemi)<\/p>\n
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