Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said he told US President Donald Trump that no diplomatic agreement is possible with Iran's leadership, whom he described as "savages", as he threw his support behind Trump's newly announced economic pressure campaign against Tehran. The comments, made at an event for Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank, underline Netanyahu's long-standing scepticism towards negotiating with Iran and come as tensions between the two countries remain high following military conflict earlier this year.

Netanyahu said the remarks were made during a White House meeting last month, and that he and Trump also discussed further military action, warning Iran would face a response "far stronger than anything they have suffered" if it attacked Israel again. He was speaking after Trump declared an "economic D-Day" against Iran, expanding sanctions targeting its technology, gold, aviation and shipping sectors. Netanyahu also revealed that Iran had attempted to kill one of his sons, reportedly Yair Netanyahu, though he gave no further details; this follows a February conflict in which Israel killed Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, whose son Mojtaba later succeeded him, and a subsequent ceasefire agreed in April amid US public opposition to the war.