Defense Department official to senior US officials: US withdrawal from nuclear deal with Iran was a mistake

The head of the Department of Defense's Political and Security Division said at meetings at the State Department and Defense in Washington that the US withdrawal from the nuclear deal brought Iran closer to nuclear weapons.

A senior State Department official who visited Washington in those days told the Americans the opposite and stressed that the Iranian leader had decided not to return to the agreement

Lightning Ravid

26/05/2022

Thursday, 26 May 2022, 14:41 Updated: 15:13

• Share on Facebook

• Share on WhatsApp

• Share on Twitter

• Share on Email

• Share on general

• Comments

  Comments

In the video: Ganz during his speech at Reichman University (Reichman University)

The head of the Defense Ministry's political-security division, Brigadier General in the reserve Dror Shalom, said last week during talks in Washington with senior officials in the Foreign and Defense Ministries that the United States made a mistake when it withdrew from the nuclear agreement with Iran, Walla!

Israeli and American officials involved in the details.

More on Walla!

Ganz: "Iran completes production and development of 1,000 advanced centrifuges"

To the full article

"The Iranian leader has decided not to return to the agreement."

Talks in Vienna, November (Photo: Reuters)

why is it important:

• Prime Minister Naftali Bennett and other senior government officials are still pressuring the Biden administration in private talks and not to return to the nuclear deal with Iran.

• The Trump administration withdrew from the nuclear deal in 2018 under the enthusiastic encouragement of the Israeli government and especially then-Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

In the news center:

• Shalom visited Washington last week for the first time since taking office as head of the Department of Defense's Political and Security Department - a position considered one of the senior officials in the Department of Defense.

• The purpose of the trip was to meet with senior officials at the State Department, the Pentagon and the White House.

  In addition, Shalom prepared the meeting between Defense Secretary Ganz and US Secretary of Defense Austin.

• Shalom's role is one of the most influential in the political-security system in Israel.

  He is responsible for formulating Israel's security policy and for Israel's security relations with the countries of the world and sits on all senior and sensitive forums - including on the Iranian issue.

• Shalom previously served as head of the research division in the IDF's Intelligence Division - also one of the most influential and significant positions in the Israeli intelligence community.

Behind the Scenes:

• At several peace meetings last week at the Department of Defense and the State Department in Washington, he stressed that the US withdrawal from the nuclear deal with Iran was a mistake that brought Iran closer to nuclear weapons and created a worse situation, senior Israeli and American officials said.

• Shalom told his American interlocutors that in 2018 when he served as head of the research division at the Armed Forces he said the same things in the internal discussions, including to Prime Minister Netanyahu.

the other side:

• In the days when Shalom visited Washington, another senior Israeli official arrived in the American capital - the head of the strategic department at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Yosh Zarka.

  Senior Israeli and American officials said that in meetings with senior US officials, including Iranian envoy Rob Mali, Zarqa conveyed opposite messages to those of Shalom.

• Israeli and American officials said Zarqa told Mali and other US officials that Israel estimated that Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei had decided not to return to the nuclear deal unless the United States agreed to remove the Revolutionary Guards from the terrorist list's blacklist.

• Prime Minister Bennett said this week that President Biden informed him in their April 24 conversation that he had decided not to remove the Iranian Revolutionary Guards from the U.S. terror list.

• Zarqa told his American interlocutors that in light of the US position on the Revolutionary Guards back to the nuclear deal is no longer relevant and therefore the Biden administration needs to formulate an alternative course of action and put further significant pressure on Iran.

between the lines:

• Senior officials in the Biden administration were surprised by what they heard from the head of the Defense Ministry's security division, Dror Shalom, especially in light of the fact that the current administration is interested in returning to the nuclear agreement, while the Israeli government opposes it.

• A senior Israeli official said Shalom's position on the nuclear deal was not new but he should not have said it in official meetings with the Biden administration as it contradicted the government's position.

• According to the senior Israeli official, the Biden administration uses statements by Israeli security experts who support the nuclear agreement to claim that the United States should return to the agreement.

• Just yesterday (Wednesday), the American envoy on the Iranian issue, Rob Mali, quoted during a Senate hearing the words of former security chief Tamir Heiman in favor of the nuclear agreement in an interview with Israel Today.

• What they say:

• "We do not respond to things that are said in closed hearings," said Defense Ministry spokesman Assaf Zohar.

• Foreign Ministry spokesman Lior Hayat said: "There is no response."

• news

• Political-political

Tags

• Nuclear Agreement

• Iran

• United States