At their White House meeting last Monday 7 July, Benjamin Netanyahu handed Donald Trump a piece of paper across the dinner table, under the watching eyes of all dozen or so attendees, including his wife Sara. “This is my letter to the Nobel Peace Prize committee recommending you for this year’s award,” he told the American president. Trump appeared surprised as he smiled and thanked Netanyahu profusely.

But this, of course, was all just showboating. It was a meaningless gesture. The committee had already selected its candidate. Besides, Netanyahu is under an arrest warrant for war crimes, issued by the International Criminal Court; a letter from him would be unlikely to enhance Trump’s chances of receiving the award.

Trump and Netanyahu met again the following day, this time without aides except for Vice President JD Vance. But beyond inane pleasantries, these meetings were not followed by the publication of a joint statement, which indicates that there were serious differences of opinion between the two leaders and that none of the issues on the table has been resolved.

Looming over everything was the question of what to do about Iran’s dormant nuclear weapons project. Israel’s twelve-day war against Iran on 13–24 June, assisted by the crucial American bombing of three major Iranian nuclear installations, has put Iran’s nuclear ambitions on hold for the moment. But most observers believe that the Israeli-American assault has acutely heightened the Iranian leaders’ desire to produce atomic weaponry as quickly as possible and, of course, to avenge their humiliation. Opinions vary as to how far the Israeli and American savaging of the Iranian installations has pushed back Iran’s advance toward nuclear weaponry—some commentators estimate only several months, while others think it has delayed the plans by as much as a year or two. These different assessments depend partly on opinions as to the whereabouts of the 408 kilogrammes of uranium Iran had enriched to sixty percent by 13 June. (Uranium enriched to ninety percent is crucial for the production of a nuclear bomb.)

Both Trump and Netanyahu insist that Iran must never be allowed to possess nuclear weapons, and since 24 June, both have spoken of their willingness to strike again if the Iranians renew their march toward the bomb. But Trump has been inconsistent on this and clearly prefers to halt the Iranian nuclear project through diplomacy and negotiation. So far, the Iranians have dragged their feet, as is their wont, and proclaimed that they have no knowledge of the whereabouts of the missing uranium. It is possible that American–Iranian negotiations will begin next week, perhaps in Oslo or Oman, but whether Tehran will agree to halt its nuclear project—and specifically to stop the key enrichment programme, as Trump demands—remains up in the air.