Iran’s top national security official, Ali Larijani, urged the United States to remain vigilant about what he called Israel’s “destructive” role as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu prepares to travel to Washington. Posting from Muscat, where he is visiting Oman, Larijani warned Washington not to let Netanyahu ‘‘teach Americans the framework for nuclear negotiations’’ before his arrival in the United States.
Larijani is secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, a position that gives his words strategic weight in Tehran’s policymaking circle. His public admonition, issued on social media while on an official trip to Oman, signals Tehran’s sensitivity to the influence Israel exerts on U.S. policy toward Iran and is meant for both international and domestic audiences.
Netanyahu’s visits to Washington routinely aim to shape U.S. strategy on Iran, particularly around the question of nuclear restraint and sanctions. Israel has consistently pushed for a harder line than some in Washington, arguing that any return to the 2015 nuclear deal model is insufficient; Larijani’s comment seeks to pre-empt what Tehran sees as an attempt to lock the United States into a framework that favors Israeli security priorities over Iranian demands.
The intervention matters because it underscores a persistent fault line in triangular U.S.-Israel-Iran relations: Washington’s attempt to balance alliance politics with arms-control diplomacy. Tehran’s public rebuke increases the political temperature and could complicate any U.S. effort to mediate renewed talks over Iran’s nuclear program or to calibrate deterrence without triggering escalation.
The venue of Larijani’s remarks — Muscat — is also notable. Oman has long played a discreet diplomatic role between Tehran and Western capitals, and Larijani’s timing may be intended to remind Gulf partners and the United States of Iran’s regional standing and negotiating resolve. For Washington, the statement is a prompt to consider how closely to heed Israeli input and how to insulate sensitive nuclear diplomacy from external posturing.
Whether Larijani’s warning will alter U.S. handling of Netanyahu’s visit is uncertain, but it frames the visit as more than a routine alliance reaffirmation. The exchange of signals between Tehran and Washington, filtered through allies like Israel and intermediaries like Oman, will be a barometer of how fragile prospects for negotiated de‑escalation remain in the months ahead.