Prime Minister Naftali Bennett intends to warn U.S. President Joe Biden a return to the Iran nuclear deal would be a mistake as the two are scheduled to meet in Washington later this week, a senior Israeli diplomat said on Monday.
"When we started planning [Bennett's] visit [to Washington], the return to the nuclear agreement seemed inevitable. Since then, the time has passed, the Iranian president has changed and things seem less clear. In our view, there may not be a return to the agreement at all," the diplomat said, referring to newly sworn Iranian president Ebrahim Raisi, an Islamist hardliner who harbors close ties to the Islamic Republic's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
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Prime Minister Naftali Bennett and U.S. President Joe Biden
(Photo: AP, Yonatan Zindel)
"What we inherited after a long campaign is an Iranian nuclear program with advanced uranium enrichment capabilities. We inherited an Iran that operates very aggressively and backs very negative forces in the region.
"The Iranian regime is at its most radical point since [the] 1979 [Islamic Revoltuion]. Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei is thinking of his legacy and President Ebrahim Raisi's election is a sign of a certain trajectory. It is a government of the Revolutionary Guards Corps. The disconnect between the people and the regime is stark and the regional belligerence and rate of [uranium] enrichment are alarming. It is a rogue state to the fullest extent, so the right thing to do is to look at what Israel, the U.S. and other regional actors do to block the Iranians. There's a great challenge here and a great opportunity."
The source added that Bennett will present Biden with a plan to block both Iran's nuclear ambitions and its funding of proxy terrorist organizations across the Middle East.
The Israeli leader will also meet with Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin.