U.S. Foreign Policy
King Abdullah noted that “Iranian ballistic technology has improved dramatically. We have seen that against American bases in Iraq.”
Tehran is “exacerbating” the nuclear situation and must “urgently” resume negotiations in Vienna, says the French Foreign Ministry.
The U.S. State Department confirmed the report, saying that the Iranians had “requested more time to deal with their presidential transition.”
Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett and King Abdullah reportedly met in secret last week in Amman, prior to the Jordanian monarch’s scheduled visit the White House on July 19.
“The United States knows that the Iranian government cares first and foremost about staying in power. If that means sacrificing its non-Iranian allies—Lebanese, Iraqi, Syrian and Yemenite Shi’ites—so be it,” said former U.S. Department of Defense official Harold Rhode.
Also in attendance was a delegation of U.S. lawmakers led by House Foreign Affairs Committee chairman Gregory Meeks (D-N.Y.), making his first trip to Israel in his current position.
“Iran has no credible civilian need for uranium metal R&D and production,” said the foreign ministers of France, Germany and the United Kingdom in response to a new IAEA report.
The purpose was to derail the ongoing nuclear talks in Vienna, says Iranian government spokesman Ali Rabiei.
The late former defense secretary’s Bush administration colleagues recall his sense of humor, mixed dynamics with Secretaries of State Condoleezza Rice and Colin Powell, and influence on U.S. policy towards Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat.
Diplomats say the dispute is in the process of being resolved but has caused tension in the indirect talks between Iran and the United States to revive the nuclear deal.
The Islamic Republic’s U.N. envoy also called on the U.N. Security Council to hold Israel accountable for its “adventuristic” acts against Iran’s “peaceful” nuclear program.
United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres also requested that the U.S. extend waivers on Iran’s oil trade and “nuclear non-proliferation projects.”
