Prediction, pain: US senators see Netanyahu, Trump ramping up Iran pressure

US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu are likely to step up pressure on Iran as tensions over its nuclear program comes to a head, Republican senators told Iran International on Tuesday.

The two leaders are due to meet in the White House on Tuesday, in Trump's first meeting with a foreign head of state in his second term.

Trump in the first hours of his new term credited Israel with badly weakening Iran over the course of a 15-month conflict in the region.

"I hope to see maximum pressure on Iran, cutting off their oil revenues and doing everything we can to stop the Ayatollah," Texas senator Ted Cruz told Iran International when asked about his expectation from the Trump-Netanyahu meeting.

Ahead of the talks, Trump signed a directive restoring his so-called "maximum pressure" strategy on Iran from his first term.

Long opposed to foreign wars, Trump has nevertheless adopted a hard line on Iran, saying Iran cannot be allowed to have a nuclear weapon but also suggesting Washington should not pursue regime change.

After signing the memorandum, Trump said he hoped he would not have to follow through on the memorandum. "We will see if we can work out a deal with Iran," he said, adding he would reach out to Tehran and hold talks with his Iranian counterpart - without specifying whom - to convince Iran to give up what Washington sees as moves toward a nuclear bomb.

"There isn't a person walking in these halls including Democrats that would be for the number one sponsor of terror in the world, the Iranians, having a nuclear weapon," Oklahoma Senator Markwayne Mullin told Iran International.

Iran has denied seeking a nuclear weapon, but Israel has long contended that a bomb in the hands of its arch-enemy poses an existential threat.

"There is no way. They should never have it. You can't trust what they say, so even diplomacy doesn't work. You have to touch their wallet where they can't afford to build it," Mullin added, referring to economic pressure.

"Obviously, we're not for Iran getting nuclear weapons," Alabama senator Tommy Tuberville said. "I think it'd be disastrous not just for us, but for them as it puts them as a target ... you've got to be able to control them," he added.