The Biden administration informed Israel in advance that it planned to announce Thursday that it was ready to talk to Iran about Washington and Tehran’s return to Iran’s 2015 nuclear deal, an acquaintance said.
Biden’s supporters wanted to avoid blindness to Israel, Iran’s top regional enemy, over U.S. plans, which included telling the UN Security Council that the new administration was following former President Donald Trump’s accusation that UN sanctions were lifted on Iran in September.
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Then US Vice President Joe Biden and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu meet in Israel
(Photo: GPO)
But President Joe Biden did not directly contact Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu about the shift in U.S. / Iranian policy when he spoke for the first time Wednesday, the source said.
Netanyahu has made it clear that he strongly opposes the U.S. return to the nuclear deal with Iran.
Biden and Netanyahu spoke Wednesday for the first time since the Democrat entered the White House 27 days ago, in a conversation that involved Iran.
“The conversation was very friendly and warm and lasted about an hour. The two leaders noted the long-standing personal connection and said they would work together to strengthen the strong alliance between Israel and strengthen the United States, “the Prime Minister’s Office said in a statement.
“President Biden and Prime Minister Netanyahu spoke further on the advancement of peace agreements, Iran’s threat and the region’s challenges and agreed to continue talks between them,” the PMO said.
“The president also congratulated the prime minister for his leadership in the fight against coronavirus and the two exchange ideas on how to deal with the pandemic.”
Itamar Eichner contributed to this report