With the United States and Iran locked in a tense diplomatic dance of sorts where indirect negotiations over Tehran’s nuclear programme have entered a seemingly critical phase, mediators, according to some sources, say both sides appear to be moving closer to an understanding on issues surrounding Iran’s nuclear ambitions and programme to enrich uranium.

At the same time, other sources point to US President Donald Trump now saying "I'm not happy with the fact that they're not willing to give us what we have to have. So I'm not thrilled" as a sign that things are coming to a head.

Against this backdrop, Washington has significantly bolstered its military presence in the Middle East in recent months, to levels not seen since the Iraq War. And with US officials from the president down not yet ruling out the use of force should talks collapse, the world watches and waits to see what will happen next.

In the meantime, Bne IntelliNews sat down earlier in the week to speak to two regional experts on the view from Jerusalem: Alex Traiman (AT) – the CEO and Jerusalem Bureau Chief of the Jewish News Syndicate and Fleur Hassan-Nahoum (FHN), the former Deputy Mayor of Jerusalem, Special Envoy for Trade & Innovation and a well known voice on regional diplomacy and civil preparedness.

As such, with Israel the 2025 target of more than 500 Iranian ballistic missiles and 1000 attack drones when tensions peaked in mid-2025 leading to the 12 day, Iran-Israel War and then the June 22, US-led Operation Midnight Hammer to knock out Iranian nuclear capabilities, both Traiman and Hassan-Nahoum were asked about the mood in the city, the ongoing US build up and the much-lauded Iron Dome and other defensive capabilities ahead of any potential action in the coming days and weeks.

What is the current mood on the street with regular Israelis?

FHN: It’s weird, part of it is definitely an ‘after war’ mood, because the war in Gaza is over, but there is an anticipation of another war. We have all learned to get on with our lives. We can’t wait around for something that might or might not happen, so we get on with our lives, plan holidays and more. But in the back of our heads we think ‘is tonight going to be the night?’

How do Israelis perceive the expanding US deployment in the Middle East?

AT: “Most normal Israelis are expecting there to be a war. Whether that is an Israeli-launched attack on Iran, or whether that is a US-launched attack, or whether that is a joint attack, the feeling is that Iran poses an existential threat to the security of the state of Israel, specifically with regard to its enrichment of nuclear materials and their desire for weaponisation, as well as their thousands of ballistic missiles which even without nuclear capacity poses a second existential threat to the state of Israel. Also, Israel has been fighting against Iran’s proxies including Hamas, Hezbollah and the Houthis for the last two years and there is a feeling here that until the head of the terror octopus is decapitated, that the Middle East and Israel in particular will not be safe and secure.

FHN: We are happy about it. We can’t do this on our own. I think Israel has done a lot of the heavy lifting. We did it last July when we destroyed a lot of their launching capabilities that could also launch into Europe. We destroyed part of their nuclear capabilities which is a global threat. This is a global threat and has to be dealt with by the biggest superpower in the world which is America because it’s mainly a threat to them and their way of life.

Are there any divisions in public opinion?

FHN: No. There is no division in the country about the fact that the Iranian Islamic Republic has to end. That it is not just a danger to the region and to the world. They are the Hitler of our day and a danger to their own people as we have seen tens of thousands being murdered. The people of Israel are very much empathetic and sympathetic to the people of Iran. 

We have been the one shouting for 20 years about the dangers of the Islamic Republic of Iran. There is no love here for the Islamic Republic and we understand they are the ones funding the proxies that are fighting in the war against Israel.

How aligned are US and Israeli goals in this, with regards to Iran’s nuclear capabilities or non-capabilities as Iran claims?

FHN: We can safely assume we are pretty aligned. Last July we were in a war and America came and used their bunker-busting bombs in order to destroy some of their nuclear enrichment facilities. I believe we are aligned because as the Islamic republic calls us, Little Satan and Big Satan.

Do you think Israel’s military, including its air defence systems such as Iron Dome, is better prepared after the 12-day war saw 28 Israelis killed and 35-40 missiles getting through the Dome?

AT: Israel has resupplied its stocks of ‘anti-missile’ missiles, and capabilities which includes numerous layers such as the ‘Arrow’ layer which is meant to intercept the ballistic missiles in the atmosphere. Then we have ‘David’s Sling’ which can intercept below the atmosphere but at high levels, and we also have the Iron Dome which Israel figured out can be used to intercept ballistic missiles. The only challenge is that it intercepts them very low, relative to the ground. (There are) also US THAAD systems which have been sent to the region. Also, many of the US naval ships which have been sent to the region have anti-ballistic missile technology. I believe that the sense is that there will be an international coalition which will help to intercept ballistic missiles that were fired at Israel.

FHN: There is a debate here right now about whether we have enough defensive capacity to deal with another war like we had last year, because it takes a lot of hardware to defend a country. Without it, Israel would be destroyed. They would have done what they set out to do, a Jewish genocide of the Jewish state. Even with the tragic death of 29 or 29 people, ultimately in the end it didn’t do serious damage. We pray that between what the Americans are going to do, and what we do have, it should be enough to defend Israel from the inevitable attack that will come from the Islamic Republic, once the Americans get into the war.

What will the trigger be that sets off the conflict?

AT: At this point I think we are past the trigger. I think there has already been a plan of action that has been worked out between the president of the United States and the prime minister of Israel. I do believe the last round of negotiations is a component of that plan of action, but we heard the (US) president say at the Board of Peace meeting that he believes the Iranians have about 10 days left to reach the demands the president has including the nuclear issue and the ballistic missile issue and the funding of terror proxies and the murder of protesting citizens inside Iran. I don’t see any indication the Iranians are ready to give in. According to Vice President J.D. Vance, the Iranians are yet to even acknowledge some of Trump’s red lines, and I do think the president may be running out of patience. I also think the Prime Minister of Israel presented the president with some intelligence indicating that Iran and their missile development is crossing Israeli red lines and that Israel is prepared to strike whether or not the (US) president reaches a deal with Iran. So I do think it is a question now of when, not if.

FHN: There will be no trigger. The Islamic Republic is not going to start the war. It will have to be whether the United States wants to do targeted strikes to get rid of the leadership to give people a chance to get their country back. That’s what we will be seeing if we see it.

Do you see any potential joint Israel – US operation including other nations?

AT: I think that the UK and other nations in the region would be involved in a purely defensive posture to intercept ballistic missiles. We saw in the past in April 2025, preceding the 12 day war that nations like the UK and Jordan and others were involved in trying to intercept Iranian ballistic missiles. I think that’s likely. I think it’s very unlikely to see the UK or other nations participating in any offensive strikes against Iran.

What role do you see other regional actors such as the Gulf states playing?

AT: Some of Israel’s neighbours house US military bases, like Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, and other countries are likely to permit Israel and the United States to utilise their airspace for attacks on Iran.

Where will we be six months or a year from now?

AT: It’s very hard to predict and sometimes people turn to journalists and we just try to describe what has most recently happened or potentially what could happen. But I think what could happen in the immediate weeks is the removal of the regime of the ayatollahs, the Islamic Republic from Iran and the return of that country to its people who were undergoing a modernisation and a Westernisation prior to the revolution of 1979. There is a groundswell of Iranians who want to see a return to that path, for their passports to be worth something when they go to an airport.

They want to see the rial be a currency that can buy something inside the country as well as outside the country. They want to see electricity flowing 24 hours a day. They want to have water in their capital city and they recognise that this Islamic Republic has taken all of the vast resources such as energy resources Iran is blessed with and used the revenue from the sale of those resources to fund terror across the Middle East.

I think over the coming weeks you could see the president of the United States, together with Israel acting to remove the ayatollah and the upper echelons of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corp and seek a transition to a much more peaceful regime in Iran.

FHN: The positive prognosis is a free Iran. Free of the mullahs. Free of the people who have repressed them for 47 years. The people who kill women for showing a strand of hair, who hang gay people from a crane. They are living their own holocaust there. We want a free Iran because a free Iran is a free region. Once the Islamic Republic of Iran falls then you have the other Muslim Brotherhood affiliated countries who will have to make a very tough choice. Do we join the countries in the Middle East with peace and prosperity or do we continue towards the Islamification of Europe and the death and destruction of the region and the world?

I think those countries may eventually choose the rational option.

How would Israel support potential regime change on the ground in Iran?

FHN: Rezha Pahlavi, the deposed crown prince of Iran is now increasingly becoming a figure that may well manage the transition from Islamic dictatorship to democracy. He himself said when he came to Israel (after) he met with technological companies to solve their water problems, Israel is such a technological superpower. We have learnt to deal with our own water scarcity. We have learnt to grow our own food. We are a leading nation not in just defence technology but in agricultural technology, cyber, everything, (so) that we can help the Iranian people get back on their feet and take their country back.

Israel will provide that help. The Iranian people have to choose their own leaders and their own government. Israel will certainly be helping that in any way they need to recreate the infrastructure that the Islamic Republic has destroyed.