Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told Donald Trump on Monday that he was nominating the US president for a Nobel Peace Prize as the pair hailed their recent strikes on Iran's key nuclear facilities.
Netanyahu and Trump sat down with their top aides for a dinner in Washington to mark the Iran operation and discuss a 60-day ceasefire proposal aimed at halting the 21-month conflict in Gaza.
"He's forging peace as we speak, and one country and one region after the other," Netanyahu said as he presented Trump with a nominating letter, adding that he is sending it to the Nobel Peace Prize committee.
The development comes after Trump ordered US forces to drop "bunker-buster" bombs and fire a barrage of Tomahawk missiles on three nuclear sites in Iran.
In an interview published on Monday, Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian said the US airstrikes so badly damaged nuclear facilities that Iranian authorities have not been able to access them.
Netanyahu's outwardly triumphant visit to the White House, his third this year, is dogged byIsrael's war against Hamas in Gaza and questions over how hard Trump will push for an end to the conflict.
But in an exchange before the dinner got underway, both Trump and Netanyahu expressed optimism that their success in Iran would mark a new era in the Middle East.
"I think things are going to be really settled down a lot in the Middle East," Trump said. "And, they respect us and they respect Israel."
Negotiations had started in April but were scuttled after Israel began its operations last month.
"We have scheduled Iran talks, and they want to," Trump told reporters. "They want to talk." He said last week that the talks would restart soon.
Trump's Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, sitting at the table with Trump, said the meeting would be soon, perhaps in a week, but Iran has yet to confirm the arrangement.
