US Secretary of State meets with head of Israel’s Mossad spy agency

by Karen Faulkner, Worthy News Correspondent

(Worthy News) – US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken has met with Yossi Cohen, the head of Israel’s Mossad intelligence agency, for talks that centered on Iran, the Associated Press reports.

Thursday’s talks in Washington took place amid Israeli unease about the impact of a potential US return to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) Iran nuclear deal.

The two-hour meeting on Thursday was also attended by US Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman, US National security adviser Jake Sullivan and two other senior US officials, AP said. Cohen was accompanied by Israeli Ambassador to the United States Gilad Erdan.

According to officials close to the matter, Israel expressed “strong concerns” about Iran during the meeting, AP reports. Both Israel and a number of Arab nations in the region are concerned about the effect on the region of sanctions being lifted off Iran in the event the US returns to the JCPOA.

The Biden administration is currently involved in talks with Iran and other parties to the JCPOA, in considering whether to rejoin the agreement after the Trump administration withdrew from it in 2018. Biden wants Iran to agree to comply with its obligations under the deal (including limiting uranium enrichment) before the lifting of any sanctions. Iran says it wants the sanctions lifted first.

Thursday’s meeting was the second between US and Israeli officials in Washington in a week, highlighting Israel’s concerns about Iran, AP said. On Tuesday last week, Sullivan and the US special envoy for Iran Rob Malley met with Erdan and Israeli national security adviser Meir Ben-Shabbat to talk about Iran among other Middle East matters.

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