Senior officials in Jerusalem express concern over the renewal of contacts between the US and Iran on a new and temporary nuclear agreement while Iran is racing towards a nuclear bomb.
It turns out that after the talks in Vienna between the superpowers and Iran on the possibility of returning to the 2015 nuclear agreement reached an impasse, the US still left the door open for negotiations with Iran.
It seems that the US is doing everything to find a political solution that will stop the Iranian nuclear project even if it harms Israel’s security interests.
According to Arab sources, the Israeli concern about a new nuclear agreement between the superpowers and Iran was the reason for the trip of Tzachi Hanegbi, the national security adviser, and Ron Dermer, the minister of strategic affairs, to a meeting in Washington with Jake Sullivan, the American national security adviser.
The Saudi website Ilaf, based in London, reported on June second that the US and Iran are on the verge of a new nuclear agreement.
According to the report, a senior Israeli security official said that a senior American delegation met with an Iranian delegation in Oman a few days ago to finalize the details of the agreement.
According to the senior security official, Iran and the US have not yet stopped the discussions on a renewed agreement and the latest leaks that Iran is close to producing seven nuclear bombs were designed to instill fear in Europe and Israel and accelerate the achievement of the agreement.
According to the report, the Israeli official added that the emerging agreement will remove all sanctions on Iran immediately and allow the transfer of frozen funds to Tehran from banks around the world.
It was also reported that Iran will stop enriching uranium and halt its nuclear program and will even begin a gradual withdrawal from Syria and Yemen, easing tensions in the region and easing sailing in the Gulf.
Also, Iran will be allowed to export oil freely.
There is no confirmation of these details by any American or Israeli sources.
Another report on the secret contacts between the US and Iran appeared on June second in the “Financial Times” newspaper, where it was reported that Rob Mali, the US special ambassador to Iran, had recently met several times with Amir Saeed Irwani, the US ambassador to the UN, according to the report, These were the first direct meetings between American and Iranian officials since the US withdrew from the nuclear agreement in 2018.
The leaks about the new contacts between Iran and the US came from Iranian sources and were later reinforced by Israeli sources.
The US, the superpowers and Iran probably have strong interests in reaching a new nuclear agreement despite all the difficulties even if it is a temporary agreement.
European countries are worried about the possibility of escalation between Israel and Iran, they are worried about the economic consequences of a regional war, they have been financially damaged by the ongoing war in Ukraine and the rise in oil prices.
According to Iranian sources, Sultan of Oman Haitham bin Tarek, who recently visited Tehran, was the one who managed to get the parties back on the negotiating track in an attempt to reach a new and partial nuclear agreement based on the working assumption that it is better to get some kind of agreement than nothing.
The talks were conducted for a long time in complete secrecy with the agreement of all parties that the leaks would only sabotage the negotiations, but it seems that now important agreements have been reached that allow to shed light on what happened behind the scenes.
Iran once again proves that it is an important and influential regional player that knows how to conduct negotiations well and shows a pragmatic approach when it serves its interests.
Iran is no longer excited by the sanctions regime imposed on it by the West, despite the sanctions it managed to sign a series of agreements with countries in the Gulf, with countries in East Asia and Latin America and it is no longer excited by the sanctions imposed on it by the West.
Official Iran and the US are keeping silent and apart from the few leaks that have been so far there is still no clear picture of the negotiations that were conducted secretly on the new nuclear agreement.
One thing is clear, Israel is very worried about this development which gives Iran a lot of oxygen to recover and also a lot of money that will improve its economic situation and strengthen it and its affiliates militarily without removing the threat of a nuclear bomb over Israel.
