Wednesday, April 14, 2021

In strategic talks with Israel, US vows to prevent a nuclear-armed Iran

The Biden administration stressed its commitment to preventing a nuclear-armed Iran during a strategic meeting with Israeli officials on Tuesday, as Middle East tensions rose and Iran announced it was stepping up uranium enrichment to unprecedented levels.

Israeli and White House officials on Tuesday held the second session of a bilateral strategic group aimed at collaborating in the effort to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon.

The teams, led by US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan and his Israeli counterpart, Meir Ben-Shabbat, held the meeting virtually after a previous discussion in March.

A White House statement on the US-Israel Strategic Consultative Group meeting said the two sides had discussed “opportunities to promote stability and security in the face of shared regional threats and challenges.”

“Sullivan reaffirmed the Biden-Harris administration’s unwavering commitment to Israel’s security and to ensuring that Iran will never obtain a nuclear weapon,” the statement said.

Sullivan invited Ben-Shabbat to Washington in the coming weeks for follow-up talks, the statement said. READ MORE