Israeli and US National Security advisers hold meeting on Iran

by Karen Faulkner, Worthy News Correspondent

(Worthy News) – The US and Israel sent their respective National Security Advisers to the White House on Tuesday for talks on Iran’s nuclear program, the Times of Israel (TOI) reports.

US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan and his Israeli counterpart Eyal Hulata were set to chair a meeting of the US-Israel Strategic Consultative Group (SRG), an inter-agency bilateral forum on Iran. While the SRG has met remotely in recent months, Tuesday’s meeting will be the first time it has convened in person. The forum includes members of US and Israeli military, diplomatic, and intelligence communities, TOI said.

A senior US official told reporters Monday that the forum meeting will build upon a summit between US President Joe Biden and Prime Minister Naftali Bennett in August. At that meeting, Biden told Bennet he will not allow Iran to obtain a nuclear weapon, despite his efforts to see Iran rejoin and comply with the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, (an agreement from which former President Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew in 2018).

Concerning Biden’s diplomatic efforts, the senior official said: “We still believe very strongly that the diplomatic path remains the best path for resolving this issue.” However, the official added: “Since we came in we have not lifted any sanctions, we are not going to pay upfront, and we’ve made that very clear.”

Although Israel opposes the JCPOA, Bennett has told Biden he will not publicly campaign against the deal like former Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu did.

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