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US President Joe Biden is set to meet with the new Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett in his visit to Washington this week. Israeli officials have said that Bennett is expected to present Biden with a plan on how to deal with Iran without resorting to the nuclear deal.
The Times of Israel reported that Bennett will present a strategy to deal with Iran’s nuclear program and address regional issues without having to return to the nuclear deal established in 2015. Bennett’s meeting with Biden will take place Thursday. Israeli officials said that Bennett will make the case that Iran’s nuclear program has already become too advanced for the 2015 deal to still take place.
The officials have also argued that the deal would benefit Iran the most, even if the loopholes in terms of enrichment would be addressed.
“When we began to plan the visit, a return to the agreement seemed certain. Since then, time has passed, the president in Iran has changed and things seem far less certain. In our view, it may be that there is no return to the agreement,” said the person familiar with the matter.
Bennett has opposed the Biden administration’s plan to return to the 2015 Iran nuclear deal -- Biden’s predecessor Donald Trump pulled the US out of the deal in 2018. While other Western nations have held negotiations with Iran in Vienna for the past several months, talks have been put on hold as Ebrahim Raisi was sworn in as the Islamic nation’s new president.
Meanwhile, Biden is also tackling the ongoing withdrawal of Afghans and Americans in Afghanistan as tens of thousands have already been flown out so far. Biden had a meeting with his G7 countries over the deadline for the withdrawal. Biden has faced calls to extend the August 31 deadline by the other countries joining in the efforts in flying out Afghans looking to flee from the Taliban.
However, Biden appeared to clash with some of them, unswayed by the calls for an extension. The leaders of the allied nations have also acknowledged and ultimately will enforce the August 31 deadline on their respective military forces.
