Mossad director David Barnea was reported to arrive Friday in the US for consultations on Iran’s deadly crackdown on protests and a potential American military response.

The protest movement in Iran has subsided after the crackdown that has killed thousands under an internet blackout, monitors said Friday, one week after the start of the largest protests in years challenging the Islamic Republic’s theocratic system.

Israel’s spy chief is expected to meet with White House envoy Steve Witkoff in Miami, the Axios news site reported, adding that the latter was managing direct communications between the US and Iran.

The report said it was unclear whether Barnea will meet with US President Donald Trump, who is expected to be at his Mar-a-Lago golf club in Florida over the weekend.

The threat of military action by the US against Iran also appeared to recede for the time being, with a Saudi official saying Gulf allies had persuaded Trump to give the Iranian leadership a “chance.”

Israel is reported to have also asked Trump to delay any military action against Iran, as the Jewish state is expected to come under fire in retaliation for any major US action there.

Israeli officials believe, however, that the US may still strike in the coming days, according to Axios.

The news outlet also cited US sources as saying the US military was sending additional defensive and offensive capabilities to the region to be ready in case Trump orders a strike.

The US military’s Central Command didn’t immediately respond to an emailed request for comment.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Russian President Vladimir Putin discussed the situation in the Middle East and Iran by phone on Friday, the Kremlin said

Putin offered Russia’s help in mediating with regard to Iran, and told the Israeli leader he was “in favor of intensifying political and diplomatic efforts to ensure stability and security in the region,” the Kremlin added.

Putin also spoke by phone with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, the Kremlin stated. Putin will continue efforts to de-escalate the situation in the region, his spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.

Pezeshkian’s office said he thanked Putin for “Russia’s position,” adding that “the role and direct involvement of the United States and the Zionist regime in recent events in Iran is evident.”

Protests sparked by economic grievances started with a shutdown in the Tehran bazaar on December 28 but turned into a mass movement demanding the removal of the clerical system that has ruled Iran since the 1979 revolution.

People started pouring into the streets in big cities from January 8, but authorities........

© The Times of Israel