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US officials stated that Washington is committed to diplomacy but has “other ways to seek” Iran.
A senior U.S. official told reporters before the two leaders that President Joe Biden will tell Israel’s Naftali Bennet that the U.S. is seeking to stop Iran’s nuclear program through diplomacy, but there are “other ways to seek “. Meeting.
Bennett met with Biden for the first time since becoming Israeli Prime Minister. He expressed opposition to the U.S. efforts to restore the 2015 nuclear agreement with Iran.
The government official briefed reporters before the meeting between Biden and Bennett on Thursday, accusing former President Donald Trump of canceling the multilateral agreement, which opened the door for Iran to accelerate its nuclear program.
“Since the last government withdrew from the Iran nuclear agreement, Iran’s nuclear program has just made a sharp breakthrough, and it has been accelerating every week,” the official said.
“This is a very serious problem, and I think the two leaders will have the opportunity to sit together and discuss how to solve this problem.”
The transaction is officially called the Joint Comprehensive Action Plan (Comprehensive action plan) In exchange for Iran’s reduction of its nuclear program and exemption from international sanctions.
Trump withdrew from the agreement in 2018 and began to impose sanctions on the Iranian economy as part of his “maximum pressure” campaign. In response, Tehran gradually relaxed its commitments to JCPOA, including restrictions on uranium enrichment.
Biden was Barack Obama’s vice president when the agreement was signed. He campaigned to restore the agreement, but the six rounds of indirect talks with Iran in Vienna earlier this year failed to restore the JCPOA.
Bennett’s predecessor, Benjamin Netanyahu, was a strong opponent of the agreement. The current Israeli Prime Minister made it clear that Israel’s position has not changed.
Earlier this week, Bennett told the New York Times that he would propose to Biden a new strategy against Iran, including strengthening Israel’s alliance with some Arab countries, and Israel’s continued secret attacks on Iran’s nuclear facilities.
Israel signed normalization agreements with the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Sudan and Morocco last year.
Speaking of Iran, he said: “What we need to do, and what we are doing, is to form a regional alliance of rational Arab countries with us, which will resist and stop this expansion and this desire for domination.”
Earlier this week, US State Department spokesperson Ned Price said that although negotiations with Tehran have stalled due to the new conservative government taking office in Iran under the leadership of the president, the United States is still committed to restoring the nuclear agreement. Ibrahim Raisi.
Price said: “We have made it very clear that seeking to achieve mutual compliance with the JCPOA is still in our national interest.”
On Wednesday, the government official said that although the United States is “committed” to diplomacy with Iran, its approach is “multidimensional.”
The United States believes that restoring the JCPOA is the best way to roll back Iran’s nuclear program. “But obviously, if this doesn’t work, there are other ways to go,” the official said.
Bennett met with the head of the Pentagon, Lloyd Austin, and Secretary of State Anthony Brinken on Wednesday.
“Our commitment to this partnership, to Israel’s security, will always be unshakable,” Brinken said before the meeting.
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