On Tuesday, President Joe Biden’s national security adviser warned his Israeli colleague that diplomacy is the best approach to reign in Iran’s nuclear programme, while also reiterating Biden’s warning to Tehran that if negotiations fail, Washington will resort to other alternatives.
According to a US official, the talks gave the two allies a chance to share intelligence and develop a “baseline assessment” of how far Tehran’s nuclear programme has progressed. Biden senior aide Jake Sullivan hosted Israeli national security adviser Eyal Hulata.
In exchange for the relaxation of economic sanctions, Iran agreed to limit its uranium enrichment programme, which might lead to nuclear weapons. In 2018, then-US President Donald Trump pulled out of the agreement, and the Israeli government opposes any efforts to resurrect it.
According to a US official who spoke on the condition of anonymity, the time it would take Iran to achieve nuclear “breakout” enough enriched uranium to produce a nuclear bomb has “gone from approximately 12 months down to a period of just a few months” after Trump backed out of the accord.
Iran, Israel’s arch-foe in the region, has consistently denied that it is working on a nuclear weapon.
The White House said in a statement that Sullivan “stressed President Biden’s core commitment to Israel’s security and to ensuring that Iran never receives a nuclear weapon” during Tuesday’s meetings.
“Mr. Sullivan stated that this administration believes diplomacy is the best approach to achieve that goal,” the statement said, “while also adding that the president has made clear that if diplomacy fails, the US is prepared to turn to other options.”
Sullivan’s remarks echoed Biden’s statement to Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett during an August White House meeting.
Military, intelligence, and diplomatic officials attended the US-Israel Strategic Consultative Group meeting on Tuesday, which came amid stalled international negotiations with Iran.
For weeks, Western powers have been seeking to persuade Iran to agree to continue indirect talks with the US in Vienna. The discussions have been on pause since June, when conservative cleric Ebrahim Raisi was elected president of Iran, and Tehran has remained tight-lipped about when they will resume.
Officials from the United States have refused to say what actions they are considering if dialogue with Iran fails.
When asked if this included military options, the senior US official said only that “we’ll be prepared to take measures that are required” ahead of Tuesday’s meeting.
Some officials and observers believe that Tehran’s stalling is a bid to acquire leverage in order to demand greater concessions when talks resume, notably by pushing its uranium enrichment programme.
Bennett, a far-right politician who deposed Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in June after a 12-year reign, has made it plain that he wants Biden to toughen his stance on Iran, which Israel regards as an existential threat.
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The Chenab Times News Desk