UPDATE 1-Israel's Netanyahu says Trump may be creating conditions for Iran deal

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin ​Netanyahu on Thursday said he ​hoped that U.S. President Donald Trump ‌was ​creating the conditions to reach a deal with Iran that would avoid military action. Netanyahu, who met Trump for ‌talks in Washington on Wednesday, said he had expressed "general scepticism" and said that if an agreement was reached, "it must include the elements that are very important to Israel." They include ‌a halt to Iran's nuclear programme, limits on its ballistic missiles and Iran’s ‌proxies, he added. Wednesday's meeting was the seventh between Trump and Netanyahu since Trump returned to office last year. Netanyahu - whose visit was more muted than usual and closed to the press - ⁠was looking to ​influence the next ⁠round of U.S. discussions with Iran following nuclear negotiations held in Oman last Friday.

The two leaders ⁠spoke behind closed doors for more than two-and-a-half hours in what Trump described

as a "very good meeting". But ​the U.S. president said no major decisions were made and stopped short ⁠of publicly accepting Netanyahu's entreaties.

"We have a very close, very genuine, and very open relationship," Netanyahu ⁠said, ​noting the discussions focused on several issues, but primarily on the negotiations with Iran, and Trump wanted to "hear my opinion." "The President believes that the Iranians have ⁠already learned who they are dealing with," he said. "I think that the conditions he is ⁠creating, combined ⁠with the fact that they surely understand they made a mistake last time by not reaching an agreement, may create the ‌circumstances for ‌achieving a good deal."