Netanyahu Tells Trump "We Have a Job to Finish" on Iran as Hegseth Visits Israel; Iran Officials Say Talks Are Being Prolonged

October 20, 2026 · Category: World News

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday, October 19 released a video of a phone call with President Donald Trump, a day after Trump endorsed his reelection bid. "Donald, we have a job to finish. We'll finish it together," Netanyahu said, CBS News reported; he did not elaborate CBS News.

The same day, U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth made an unannounced visit to Israel and met Netanyahu, according to a senior U.S. military official cited by CBS News; the Pentagon declined to comment. Reuters reported that three Israeli officials said the two discussed Iran, a week before an Israeli parliamentary election Reuters via Al-Monitor.

From Tehran came a very different account of where talks stand. In a report published Tuesday, Reuters cited three senior Iranian officials and an Iranian insider as saying Tehran has deliberately prolonged talks with the U.S. to weaken Trump politically before the November 3 midterms. "Iran is preparing for renewed Israeli and US attacks, not for a deal with America to end the war," one official said. The sticking point is sequencing: Reuters reported that Washington wants Iran's nuclear program addressed from the outset, while Tehran insists the conditions of its "seven-day plan" be met first. Iran's Foreign Ministry and the White House did not respond to requests for comment Reuters via Al-Monitor.

Mediators, at least publicly, are still at the table. Qatar's Foreign Ministry spokesman Majed al-Ansari said Tuesday, "The negotiation is ongoing," and Pakistan's army chief, Asim Munir, was expected in Tehran, though Iran's foreign ministry said the talks would focus mainly on bilateral ties CBS News Geo News/Reuters.

On the ground, violence continued across the region. Iran's Revolutionary Guard claimed Tuesday that it destroyed a U.S. MQ-9 drone and that its sea mines set two tankers on fire in the Strait of Hormuz; those are Iranian claims. In Yemen, the death toll from Monday's Houthi missile strike on a government training camp in Shabwa province rose to 73, a senior Yemeni official said, per AP, and Saudi forces said they intercepted a Houthi ballistic missile aimed at Riyadh CBS News. In Europe, Germany and Iran summoned each other's ambassadors after a German court sentenced two men with ties to Iran's intelligence service for plotting to kill the leader of a Jewish organization, CBS News reported.

Why it matters

The signals from each side point in different directions. Public statements from Israeli and U.S. leaders raised the possibility of renewed strikes, while Iranian officials, speaking anonymously to Reuters, described a strategy of keeping talks alive without a quick deal, and Qatar said negotiations continue. None of that amounted to a reported agreement or a change in either government's formal position as of the morning of October 20. Attacks on shipping and the widening Yemen–Saudi conflict remain active, and several of the battlefield claims above come from one side only.

Sources

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