Israel warns of regional catastrophe in last-ditch effort to thwart new Iran nuclear deal
National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan met on Tuesday in Washington with Israeli National Security Advisor Dr Eyal Hulata to “consult on a broad range of global issues and issues of mutual concern,” and chiefly the emerging nuclear deal with Iran that the Biden administration appears to be ready to adopt.
Iranian flag. Credit: Wikimedia Commons.
Sullivan underscored President Joe Biden’s “steadfast commitment to preserve and strengthen Israel’s capability to deter its enemies and to defend itself by itself against any threat or combination of threats, including from Iran and Iranian-backed proxies; and our commitment to ensure Iran never acquires a nuclear weapon,” a readout of the meeting published by the White House said.
Hulata was initially slated to meet with Secretary of State Antony Blinken but met with Sullivan instead.
Defense Minister Benny Gantz will take off on Thursday for an official visit to the US and will meet with Sullivan on Friday, apparently a last-ditch effort to influence the deal.
A nuclear deal with Iran “is closer now than it was two weeks ago,” US State Department Spokesman Ned Price told reporters on Monday, “but the outcome of these ongoing discussions still remains uncertain as gaps do remain.”
The Biden Administration is expected to respond to the final text of the deal in the coming day and is expected to accept Iran’s terms for entering a new nuclear deal.
However, Israeli officials say that the nuclear agreement that is taking shape is a bad one, and Israel does not see itself committed to it and will continue to work for its security and curbing Iran’s nuclear efforts.
Gantz told Kan 11 news on Monday that the nuclear agreement “is a bad agreement that allows Iran to strengthen its military strength and support the countries of the region – we are against it and are preparing for actions from our side.”
Alternate Prime Minister Naftali Bennett called on Biden and the American administration to “refrain, even now at this last minute, from signing the agreement with Iran. This agreement will send approximately a quarter of a trillion dollars to the Iranian terror administration’s pocket and to its regional proxies and will enable Iran to develop, install and operate centrifuges, with almost no restrictions, in a mere two years.”
“One way or another, the State of Israel is not a party to the agreement. Israel is not committed to any of the restrictions stemming from the agreement and will utilise all available tools to prevent the Iranian nuclear program from advancing,” he said.
Ted Cruz (R-Texas), a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, warned Tuesday that Biden “intends to give a nuclear arsenal to Iran. The details of this deal are only now emerging, but we already know they will be catastrophic to the national security of America.
“This deal will quickly flood the regime with hundreds of billions of dollars, and soon afterwards, the deal will be worth trillions. It will dismantle sanctions on the Iranian economy, which is controlled by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and provides the IRGC with the resources it needs to export its terrorism globally,” he noted.
The new agreement will “excuse Iran from that previous cheating while enabling it to continue into the future. It repeats the inexplicable folly of the previous nuclear deal by legalising the regime’s nuclear program, which had previously been prohibited by multiple United Nations Security Council resolutions. It will eventually be used to develop nuclear weapons that will inflict destruction on America and our allies. When the Ayatollah chants ‘Death to America’ and ‘Death to Israel,’ he means it.”
“Thousands of people will die because of the Iranian terrorism enabled by this deal. Tens of millions may die because of the nuclear arsenal it will provide to the Ayatollah, he cautioned, vowing to “systematically fight the implementation of this catastrophic deal, and work with my colleagues to ensure that it is blocked and eventually reversed in January 2025.”
