But as they near a restoration of the 2015 agreement, Biden administration officials are unlikely to heed the Israeli calls.
The Israeli government is ramping up pressure on the Biden administration to walk away from international efforts to revive the Iran nuclear deal.
But the White House isn’t budging.
Israeli national security adviser Eyal Hulata visited the White House on Tuesday, where he met with his U.S. counterpart, Jake Sullivan, to raise Israel’s concerns about the latest draft roadmap to a revival of the 2015 agreement. Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz is due to see Sullivan in Washington on Friday.
An Israeli official confirmed the meeting. Readouts were not immediately available.
Meanwhile, former Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett sent out a series of tweets urging the U.S., “even now at this last minute,” to walk away from the talks, whose result, he feared, would enrich a dangerous Iranian regime that cannot be trusted.
“One way or another, the State of Israel is not a party to the agreement,” Bennett warned, reiterating a longstanding Israeli position. “Israel is not committed to any of the restrictions stemming from the agreement and will utilize all available tools to prevent the Iranian nuclear program from advancing.”
The 2015 nuclear deal, struck during Barack Obama’s presidency, lifted an array of U.S. sanctions on Iran in exchange for major restraints on its nuclear program. In 2018, then-President Donald Trump abandoned the deal, saying it was too weak and too narrow and he reimposed the sanctions while adding new ones. After about a year, Iran began violating the terms of the deal, including by enriching uranium to high levels and shutting out inspectors.
Israelis press U.S. not to rejoin Iran nuclear deal – POLITICO