Israel Responds: U.S. Rejoining Nuclear Deal Would Only Benefit Iran

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pushed back Friday after the Biden Administration signaled it was ready to resume diplomatic talks with Iran.

“Israel believes that going back to the old agreement will pave Iran’s path to a nuclear arsenal,” the statement from Netanyahu’s office read.

Netanayahu’s office pushes back today after US signaled yesterday it was ready to resume diplomatic talks with #Iran:
“Israel believes that going back to the old agreement will pave Iran’s path to a nuclear arsenal”

— Josh Lederman (@JoshNBCNews) February 19, 2021

This occurred after news surfaced on Tuesday that Israel may be forced to pursue its own strategy if President Joe Biden pushes toward reviving the nuclear deal, according to a report in Israel Hayom: 

“We think that if the United States returns to the same accord that it already withdrew from, all its leverage will be lost,” Ambassador Gilad Erdan told Israel’s Army Radio. Adding that, “We will not be able to be part of such a process if the new administration returns to that deal.”

The possibility of an isolated Israel calls into question geopolitical stability the Trump Administration achieved through tough Iranian sanctions and upon the Abraham Accords’ consumption, which maintains a “world based on mutual understanding and coexistence” between competing Middle East factions.

A day after President Joe Biden had his first conversation with Netanyahu since taking office, Secretary of State Antony Blinken relayed on Thursday to France, Germany, and the U.K. the U.S. is ready to begin negotiating with Iran in an attempt to reestablish the 2015 nuclear deal or something like it.

In response to the Thursday conference call, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif suggested, “Instead of putting onus on Iran, they must abide by own commitments and demand an end to Trump’s legacy of economic terrorism against Iran.”