Jerusalem does not envision a new nuclear deal between Iran and world powers being signed before the November midterm elections in the United States, Reuters reported on Sunday.
The report, which cited an anonymous Israeli official, suggested that Israel had reached this conclusion partially due to the statement released on Saturday by Britain, France and Germany. In that statement, the so-called E3 nations denounced Iran for failing to negotiate in good faith a revised agreement to curb its nuclear program, which Tehran had continued to expand “far beyond any plausible civilian justification.”
Jerusalem viewed the statement as evidence that U.S. President Joe Biden was hesitant to enter into a new accord with Tehran prior to the November vote, with some analysts claiming that formalizing an accord with the mullahs could hurt the prospects of the Democrats at the ballot box, according to Reuters.
The report comes after Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid on Sunday described as “successful” his diplomatic offensive against a revival of the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action. However, he conceded that there was a “long way” to go to ensure that Tehran does not benefit, to the tune of hundreds of billions of dollars, should an accord be reached.
He also praised London, Paris and Berlin for their joint statement, saying: “Following the Americans, yesterday the E3 countries announced that a nuclear agreement with Iran will not be signed in the near future, that the [International Atomic Energy Agency]’s open files regarding Iran are not about to be closed.
“I thank France, the United Kingdom, and Germany for their strong position on this matter. In recent months, we held a discreet and intensive dialogue with them, and presented them with up-to-date intelligence information about Iranian activity at nuclear sites,” Lapid added.
Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz on Sunday headed to the United States for a series of meetings with United Nations officials that were expected to focus on Iran’s nuclear program.
He was slated on Monday to meet with U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres and U.S. ambassador to the international body Linda Thomas-Greenfield, as well as brief the ambassadors of U.N. Security Council members and countries that are signatories to the Abraham Accords, which two years ago normalized relations between Israel and numerous Arab states.
