Live updates: Talks stuck at an impasse as Iran accuses US of ‘squeezing’ Tehran for concessions

As scuppered talks between Tehran and Washington roil the region, we’re getting information about an Israeli strike Tuesday on a Syrian air base near Idlib — an attack that sparked sharp criticism from the Trump administration.

Breaking hours of silence, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu acknowledged an Israeli strike on a military airport in northwestern Syria that was condemned earlier by the US as an “unnecessary escalation.”

Netanyahu said Israel struck the base because of what he asserted was an imminent deployment of Turkish troops to the facility near Aleppo. He said that Israel and Syria, which have no formal relations but have engaged in talks under the auspices of the Trump administration, had a “status quo in security matters.”

In a statement on X, he said Syria risked this arrangement with the potential deployment of Turkish troops to the Abu al-Duhur base.

Netanyahu has been openly critical of Turkey and its president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, with whom he has been engaged in a long-running public feud. Netanyahu has accused Erdogan of supporting Hamas and has opposed the sale of US-made F-35 fighter jets to Ankara, while Turkish officials have called Israel “a burden that humanity can no longer bear.”

Earlier Tuesday as reports emerged of airstrikes targeting the Abu al-Duhur military airport, US envoy Tom Barrack said, “We are deeply concerned that the confirmed Israeli airstrikes on Abu al-Duhur Airbase constitute an unnecessary escalation that does not advance regional stability.”

He added that Washington was ⁠encouraging all parties ⁠to ‌prioritize “logical discourse” over further ‌military ‌incidents.