The Limited Times

Now you can see non-English news...

Opinion | Israel will try to persuade US and European countries: "Threaten Iran to impose further sanctions" | Israel Today

2021-12-05T22:04:27.011Z


In Jerusalem, a plan is being prepared in case the shuffle in Vienna continues • This week: Defense Minister Ganz and Mossad chief Barnea will meet in Washington with the Secretary of Defense and the Secretary of State to advance the issue • Senior: "If countries take a tough stance, Iranians will stop playing


Israel will try to persuade the US and European countries to threaten Iran with further sanctions, in case the shuffle continues in negotiations on a return to the nuclear deal.

The issue is expected to come up in talks that will take place this week in Washington, Defense Minister Bnei Gantz and Mossad chief Dedi Barnea.

Barnea arrived yesterday for a series of meetings in the city, and Gantz will arrive in Washington on Thursday and meet with Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Secretary of State Anthony Blinken.

The two are expected to tell their interlocutors that Iran is deliberately pulling time and hardening positions, and only an explicit threat - which there is also a willingness to carry out - could divert it from its path.

In recent months, Israel has tried to persuade the administration to threaten Iran with a military move, in case the talks fail.

But the Biden administration has made it clear that it has no intention of doing so, and the president himself has said in his voice that military moves would be the last option for him.

Therefore, Israel is trying another, "softer" option, of threatening to intensify sanctions on Iran, in the hope of gaining more attention in Washington.

common goal

Senior officials in the Biden administration have repeatedly made it clear on several occasions that the United States will not allow Iran to acquire nuclear capability. He said on Tuesday, in a briefing to reporters in Washington, that between the United States and Israel there is no debate about the goal - to prevent Iran from being nuclear - but about the right way to achieve it.

Israel is convinced that a serious threat of imposing further sanctions will return the Iranians to negotiations. This is against the background of the difficult economic situation in Iran, which experienced another crash in its currency exchange rate yesterday (the dollar crossed the 300,000 rials threshold yesterday). "In and the European countries that are party to the agreement will present a tough and uncompromising position with a clear stick on its side, the Iranians will stop playing games."

These include sanctions that will prevent Iranians from carrying out financial operations in the United States and Europe, freezing assets of senior Revolutionary Guards around the world, preventing Iranian ships from docking across the Middle East, and more.

Bennett to incoming Ambassador Niles: "Thanks to Baiden for restoring bipartisan support for Israel."

Photo: GPO

This position is currently receiving more significant attention in Europe than in Washington.

Apart from Israel, it also has some of the Gulf states - including Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates - which are very concerned about the possibility that the framework of the agreement will finally collapse, and that Iran will become a nuclear threshold state.

The US wants to thwart this by returning to the agreement, and Israel and the Gulf states want to make sure that this includes spending all of the enriched uranium accumulated in Iran, as well as significant restrictions and oversight on its ability to advance various aspects of its future nuclear program.

"Zero surprises"

Part of this week's dialogue in Washington will also be devoted to the question of "what if" - what steps will the parties take if the agreement is finally collapsed.

The US has already made it clear that it expects "zero surprises" from Israel, while Israel has made it clear that it intends to retain full operational freedom of action.

The senior added that "this is one of the main goals of this week's visits - to calm the spirits, to allow for an effective and discreet dialogue between the parties."

"We have to do everything right now to make an impact from within, and only if we fail to do so - to act in other ways. A quarrel with the Americans not only will not benefit now at all, it could even be detrimental to efforts."

In Washington, it was estimated yesterday that although the talks in Vienna ended last week with nothing, they will be resumed in the coming days - directly or on a bypass and secret route.

This is against the background of the effort to exhaust them before the US and Europe go on Christmas and New Year holidays.

Were we wrong?

Fixed!

If you found an error in the article, we'll be happy for you to share it with us

Source: israelhayom

All news articles on 2021-12-05

You may like

Trends 24h

Latest

© Communities 2019 - Privacy

The information on this site is from external sources that are not under our control.
The inclusion of any links does not necessarily imply a recommendation or endorse the views expressed within them.