Israeli television reports revealed Saturday (Jan. 16) that the Biden administration has launched plans to return to the 2015 nuclear deal and has begun private talks with Iran. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned last week that a move to return to the deal would be inappropriate.
The country’s Channel 12 News said officials from the new U.S. administration updated Israel on the status of the dialogue.
The report did not discuss the extent of progress in negotiations between Biden administration officials and the Iranian side. Israeli authorities have not yet responded.
Another report in Israel’s Hayom daily said Israel is wary of the U.S. commitment and is designing military options to “undermine Iran’s efforts to acquire nuclear weapons or resist Iranian aggression if necessary, and will present them to the government soon.”
The newspaper also quoted Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz as saying, “Israel needs to put a military option on the table.”
U.S. President Donald Trump withdrew from the nuclear deal with Iran in 2018 and then imposed tough sanctions on Tehran.
During the Obama administration’s spearheading of the deal known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), Israel has at times needed to threaten military action to stop Iran from getting the bomb.
Also last weekend, French Foreign Minister Jean Yves Le Drian warned that Iran wants to acquire nuclear weapons, but he blamed Trump for enabling Iran to do so by withdrawing from the deal. Speaking to the Journal du Dimanche, Le Drian said, “The Trump administration has chosen what it calls the maximum pressure campaign against Iran. And the result of this strategy will only increase the risks and threats.” He said, “This has to stop because Iran, in the process, is acquiring the ability to have nuclear weapons.”
And Israeli media reported that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will set up a group that will include representatives from Israel’s security apparatus, Foreign Ministry, Defense Ministry, army, CIA (Mossad) and Atomic Energy Commission to discuss the deal with the incoming new government. And last week, Netanyahu had warned Biden last week not to return to the deal.
Yossi Cohen, the CIA’s chief executive, could be appointed to lead the team, according to a report in Walla News.
“If we just go back to the nuclear deal (JCPOA), what will happen and may have happened is that many other countries in the Middle East, will be eager to arm themselves with nuclear weapons. That’s a nightmare, and that’s foolish. It’s not supposed to happen.” Netanyahu spoke about the matter while in Jerusalem with U.S. Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin.
Iran announced last week that it would return to enriching uranium to 20 percent in violation of the agreement. And the move has been warned by Israel as proof that the Islamic Republic is seeking nuclear weapons.
The Iranian uranium enrichment move is part of a broader campaign to mark the November killing of Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, the mastermind behind the country’s nuclear weapons program, and Tehran’s accusation of Israeli involvement over the issue is also a response to the announcement of sanctions imposed on the United States.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo warned that Iran has become the new headquarters of al Qaeda and that both have now become “partners in terrorism. According to the New York Times, Israel was linked to the beheading of al-Qaida’s deputy commander.
Britain, France and Germany warned Saturday that “there is no place in Tehran where civilians should use uranium.
“The production of uranium metal could have serious military implications,” the foreign ministers of Britain, France and Germany said in a joint statement.
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