Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during a press conference, amid the U.S.-Israel conflict with Iran, in Jerusalem, March 19, 2026.
Ronen Zvulun | Reuters
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday that the war with Iran is “not over,” as the U.S. and Israel still aim to bring an end to Tehran’s nuclear ambitions.
“There’s still nuclear material, enriched uranium that has to be taken out of Iran,” he said in a taped interview on CBS’s “60 Minutes” that is set to air Sunday night. “There is still enrichment sites that have to be dismantled, there’s still proxies that Iran supports, there are ballistic missiles that they still want to produce … there’s work to be done.”
Pressed for how the U.S. and Israel would remove the nuclear material, Netanyahu said: “You go in, and you take it out.”
Netanyahu’s comments come ahead of President Donald Trump’s expected trip to China later this week, where he’s expected to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping. The war and the subsequent closure of the Strait of Hormuz by Iran have spiked global energy costs and sharply raised gas prices in the U.S.
Washington and Tehran are trying to negotiate a peace deal through mediators in Pakistan, but the pact remains elusive.
U.S. President Donald Trump on Sunday rejected an Iranian counteroffer to a U.S. proposal to end the war, calling it “TOTALLY UNACCEPTABLE!” in a post on Truth Social.
The Wall Street Journal on Sunday reported details of Iran’s latest response.
According to the Journal, Iran did not agree to U.S. demands regarding its nuclear program and stockpile of highly enriched uranium, instead calling for separate nuclear negotiations and for some of its highly enriched uranium to be diluted and the rest sent to a third country. The uranium would be returned to Iran if the U.S. exits the deal, the Journal said.
In addition, the U.S. would end its blockade of Iranian ports, while in return, Tehran would open the Strait of Hormuz for commercial traffic.
The U.S. wants assurances that Iran will end its nuclear program as part of any peace deal. Iran reportedly agreed to suspend enriching uranium, but for a shorter period than the 20-year moratorium proposed by the U.S. Iran also rejected dismantling its nuclear facilities, the Journal reported.
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