Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Monday he will discuss Iran's nuclear activities during his visit next week with US President Donald Trump.
Speaking at a joint press conference with Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis and Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides in Jerusalem, Netanyahu said Israel was aware that Iran had recently conducted "exercises," without providing details.
Earlier on Monday, Iranian state media reported that Iran had held missile drills in various cities during the day, the second such drill reported in a month.
Western powers view Iran's ballistic missile arsenal as a conventional military threat to Middle Eastern stability and a potential delivery mechanism for nuclear weapons if Tehran develops them. It denies any intention to build atomic bombs.
Relations between Eastern Mediterranean neighbors Israel, Greece and Cyprus have strengthened over the past decade, with shared concerns about Turkey's influence in the region.
Despite "major achievements" during a 12-day war with Iran in June, Netanyahu said Israel's and the US's fundamental expectations for Iran were unchanged, including reducing its uranium enrichment level.
"It will certainly be a topic in our discussions," he said of his meeting with Trump next week, adding, "we do not seek confrontation with" Iran, but rather, "stability, prosperity and peace."
However, Netanyahu said the focus of his discussions with Trump in Washington will be moving to the next phase of Trump's plan for Gaza, as well as dealing with Iran-based Hezbollah militants in Lebanon.
He cited Israel's "desire to see a stable and sovereign Lebanon," and efforts to prevent the blockade of international transport by Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthi forces.
Netanyahu, Mitsotakis and Christodoulides agreed to deepen security cooperation, while Netanyahu said the three countries intended to advance an initiative to connect India to Europe via the Middle East by sea and rail.
Christodoulides described the projects as providing a “southeastern gateway connecting Europe to the Middle East and beyond.”
The three countries said they would seek to advance an undersea cable project to integrate their electricity networks with Europe and the Arabian Peninsula.
Mitsotakis said that Greece was a gateway for liquefied natural gas.
"It is a new energy hub in Southeast Europe," he added.
Interconnection projects, he said, remained a top priority for all three countries.
Israeli Energy Minister Eli Cohen told Reuters after the press conference that the trilateral meeting was important because it comes at a time when there are "countries that are working to uproot regional stability."
He did not identify the places. /Telegraph/
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