Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu is sending Mossad head Yossi Cohen to Washington to delineate Israel’s demands of Iran prior to the US rejoining the 2015 nuclear deal, Channel 12 News reported.
Cohen, a trusted confidant of the prime minister, is expected to travel to the US next month with a delegation of officials from the defense and foreign ministries. He will be the first senior Israeli official to meet US President Joe Biden and, according to the report, will also meet with the newly appointed CIA Deputy Director David Cohen (who previously served in the position from 2015 to 2017).
Cohen will reportedly present new information on Iran’s nuclear program to Biden and senior US defense officials. He will also lay out Israel’s demands for the US to rejoin the deal, including that Iran must halt: the enrichment of uranium and the production of advanced centrifuges; all terror activities against Israeli targets abroad; its support of terror, especially Hezbollah in Lebanon; its military presence in Iraq, Syria and Yemen, as well as allow full access to International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspectors on all parts of its nuclear program.
Secretary of State nominee Antony Blinken stated at his confirmation hearing last week that the US would consult with Israel on its policy regarding Iran.
Israel’s first high-level contact with the Biden administration took place on Motzei Shabbos when National Security Adviser Meir Ben-Shabbat spoke by phone with his US counterpart Jake Sullivan.
“The two agreed to soon discuss many topics on the agenda, including the Iranian issue, regional matters and advancing the Abraham Accords,” a statement from the Prime Minister’s Office said.
(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)
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is expected to travel to the US next month But cannot travel now, since Ben Gurion Airport is being shut