MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:
President Trump is meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu today.
STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:
It's a hurried visit, and it comes days after Trump declared very good talks were taking place in Oman with Iran over its nuclear program.
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PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Iran looks like it wants to make a deal very badly. We have to see what that deal is. But I think Iran looks like they want to make a deal very badly, as they should.
INSKEEP: Netanyahu is signaling he wants to make sure that Israel's needs are taken into consideration.
MARTIN: NPR White House correspondent Franco Ordoñez is here to tell us more about this. Good morning, Franco.
FRANCO ORDOÑEZ, BYLINE: Good morning, Michel.
MARTIN: So what specifically is Netanyahu worried about?
ORDOÑEZ: Well, Michel, I mean, the Middle East has been undergoing major changes recently. I mean, just a few weeks ago, you had these unprecedented protests against the Iranian regime. The death toll has surpassed 6,000 people, according to the U.S.-base Human Rights Activists News Agency. And Trump was actually talking about strikes on Iran, which, of course, is perhaps Israel's greatest security threat in the region. So Netanyahu was pretty happy with that situation, according to Matthew Kroenig, who worked on the Iranian file at the Pentagon. But Kroenig says the prime minister is now watching Trump make this kind of 180-degree turn with talks of a deal with Tehran, and he's worried about what will actually be in it.
MATTHEW KROENIG: President Trump is known for being unpredictable. He is known for liking deals, for being a peacemaker. And I think Netanyahu is worried that maybe in that rush for a deal, that the president will agree to terms that harm Israel's security.
ORDOÑEZ: And Kroenig says Netanyahu wants to make sure that whatever is presented is the strongest deal possible, and that includes things like reductions on ballistic missiles and ending support for proxy groups like Hamas and Hezbollah in the region.
MARTIN: How much weight should we give to President Trump's boast that Iran wants a deal, Iran is close to making a deal?
ORDOÑEZ: I mean, it is really hard to say at this point. The visit does come days after Trump's envoy Steve Witkoff and son-in-law Jared Kushner met with Iran's foreign minister. Trump clearly is trying to put as much pressure as he can on the Iranian regime. The U.S. has also amassed a very large military force in the region, and he's even threatening more strikes.
MARTIN: But you also have these historic protests.
ORDOÑEZ: Of course. I mean, the protesters in Tehran are doing incredibly brave things. But I spoke to Emily Harding, who handled the Iran portfolio in the George W. Bush White House, and she told me that the challenge is that they're battling a regime whose entire rule is based on fear and total control.
EMILY HARDING: But when you come right down to it, it's very difficult to put pressure on a regime that sees this as a potential existential threat.
ORDOÑEZ: She says Iran is - you know, the idea of Iran caving to this pressure would essentially be giving up on a government structure that they've built up for decades. And like many experts, she just doesn't see that happening.
MARTIN: In new comments, Iran's president apologized to those affected by the crackdown against the protests and said Iran is ready for verification that it's not seeking nuclear weapons. So what are you going to be watching for as these talks with Iran continue?
ORDOÑEZ: I'll be watching to see if Trump opens up the meeting with Netanyahu to the press. It'll be a sign of whether he's happy with the discussions. And if he does, will he publicly back Israel's calls for limits on ballistic missiles? Or will he talk more generally about the nuclear program? - which could open him up to some political criticism for striking what some see as a deal similar to the one that the Obama administration did, which Trump frequently mocked as weak.
MARTIN: That is White House correspondent Franco Ordoñez. Franco, thank you.
ORDOÑEZ: Thank you, Michel. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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