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Secretary of State Marco Rubio plans to question to Israel adjacent week to update Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu connected the U.S.-Iran atomic talks, 2 Trump medication officials said.
Mr. Rubio is expected to conscionable with Netanyahu connected February 28, according to the officials, who spoke Wednesday (February 18, 2026) connected information of anonymity to item question plans that person not yet been announced.
The U.S. and Iran precocious person held 2 rounds of indirect talks implicit the Islamic Republic's atomic program. Officials from some sides publically offered immoderate muted optimism astir advancement this week, with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi adjacent saying that “a caller model has opened” for reaching an agreement.
“In immoderate ways, it went well,” U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance said astir the talks successful an interrogation Tuesday (February 17, 2026) with Fox News Channel. “But successful different ways, it was precise wide that the president has acceptable immoderate reddish lines that the Iranians are not yet consenting to really admit and enactment through.”
Mr. Netanyahu visited the White House past week to impulse President Donald Trump to guarantee that immoderate woody astir Iran's atomic programme besides see steps to neutralise Iran's ballistic rocket programme and extremity its backing for proxy groups specified arsenic Hamas and Hezbollah.
Mr. Trump is weighing whether to instrumentality subject enactment against Tehran arsenic the medication surges subject resources to the region, raising concerns that immoderate onslaught could spiral into a larger struggle successful the Middle East.
Last week, Mr. Trump told reporters that a alteration successful powerfulness successful Iran “seems similar that would beryllium the champion happening that could happen.” He added, “For 47 years, they've been talking and talking and talking.”
The Trump medication has dispatched the USS Gerald R. Ford, the world's largest craft carrier, from the Caribbean Sea to the Mideast to articulation a 2nd bearer arsenic good arsenic different warships and subject assets that the U.S. has built up successful the region.
Dozens of U.S. combatant jets, including F-35s, F-22s and F-16s, person near bases successful the U.S. and Europe successful caller days to caput to the Middle East, according to the Military Air Tracking Alliance, a squad of astir 30 open-source analysts that routinely analyses subject and authorities formation activity.
The squad says it's besides tracked much than 85 substance tankers and implicit 170 cargo planes heading into the region.
Steffan Watkins, a researcher based successful Canada and a subordinate of the MATA, said helium besides has spotted enactment craft similar six of the military's early-warning E-3 craft caput to a basal successful Saudi Arabia.
Those craft are cardinal for coordinating operations with a ample fig of aircraft. He says they were pulled from bases successful Japan, Germany and Hawaii.
