(April 6, 2022 / JNS) Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz said on Wednesday that if a new nuclear deal is not signed with Iran, other measures must be taken.

“If needed, we can move forward with economic pressure, intel, diplomatic pressure, power projection and regional counterterrorism efforts,” said Gantz, according to a defense ministry spokesperson.

Gantz made the remarks during a policy and security briefing for the 80 foreign ambassadors stationed in Israel, together with Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid.

Gantz also presented the diplomats with information on the rapid advance of Iran’s nuclear program.

“Since August 2021, Iran has raced forward. Iran has increased its enriched uranium stockpile to 50 kilograms at [at an enrichment level of] 60%. We are running against [the clock]. The international community must insist on a solid agreement,” he said.

Regarding the recent wave of terrorist attacks in the country, Gantz said Israel was talking all necessary measures, including preemptive operations, to prevent further attacks.

Gantz concluded his remarks by presenting confidence-building measures undertaken with the Palestinian Authority since “Operation Guardian of the Walls” last May. He also called on the international community to invest in the P.A.

Lapid presented the ambassadors with an overview of the March 27 Negev Summit, and spoke of the importance of regional cooperation in the fields of security and the economy.

In addition, Lapid provided the ambassadors with information about the humanitarian aid Israel is providing to Ukraine and reiterated Israel’s condemnation of the Russian invasion.

Both Gantz and Lapid emphasized Israel’s condemnation of the invasion and its humanitarian efforts, as well as Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett’s mediation efforts.

Source: https://www.jns.org/israeli-defense-minister-calls-for-plan-b-if-iran-deal-not-signed/

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Brent crude futures were up $1.58, or 1.5%, to $109.11 a barrel, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate futures were up $1.61, or 1.6%, to $104.89 a barrel at 0028 GMT.

Both contracts briefly jumped more than $2 a barrel after Japanese industry minister Koichi Hagiuda said the International Energy Agency (IEA) was still working out details for a planned second round of a coordinated oil releases.

Futures had settled up more than 3% on Monday on the threat of more sanctions on Russia and following a pause in Vienna on talks to revive the Iran nuclear deal, which could put more Iranian barrels into the market. Iran blamed the United States for halting the talks.

Consultancy Wood Mackenzie on Monday estimated EU members and advanced economies including Japan and South Korea could “swap” some 650,000 barrels per day of Russian crude oil with similar grades and volumes. These would primarily come from Middle East volumes that are normally purchased by China and India.

India’s state run Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Ltd. purchased 1 million barrels of Russian Urals for May loading, in a rare move driven by the steep discount offered.

“Global crude oil trade will rebalance by ‘crude swapping’ between ‘self-sanctioning’ advanced economies and developing markets,” said Alex Sun, a managing consultancy for Wood Mackenzie, noting that a steep discount for Russian Urals barrels has created a buying opportunity for China to fill declining strategic reserves.

Reporting by Liz Hampton; editing by Richard Pullin

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Source: https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/oil-rises-uncertainty-around-supply-persists-2022-04-05/?rpc=401&

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Opposition leader MK Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday that US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken was mistaken for supporting the revival of a 2015 nuclear deal with Iran, warning that the terms of the refreshed pact will enable Tehran to menace the world with atomic weapons.

While noting his respect for the US top diplomat, Netanyahu said in a video he tweeted Sunday that “I strongly disagree with US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken.”

“I think he is making a big mistake,” he said.

“Iran without the nuclear agreement is a poor country, an isolated country, a country that has no international legitimacy, and no immunity from a military option,” Netanyahu said.

By contrast, he continued, with the nuclear agreement, Iran “becomes a rich country with hundreds of billions of dollars which they’ll use for terror and aggression, a country that breaks through the international isolation and receives immunity from military action.”

Netanyahu said the agreement would not prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons or the means to deliver them to the US and Europe, claiming that the terms of the deal will allow Iran to continue to develop ballistic missile systems.

He urged the government to oppose the pact.

Blinken met earlier in the day with Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, who also expressed his concerns over the deal, which diplomats have said is close to being finalized.

At a joint press conference after their meeting, Blinken said that “there is no daylight” between the US and Israel on the efforts to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon, as well as countering its threats to the region.

He added that the US will maintain that stance regardless of whether a new Iran nuclear deal is reached.

“Deal or no deal, we will continue to work together and with other partners to counter Iran’s destabilizing behavior in the region,” he said.

Meeting earlier with Foreign Minister Yair Lapid, Blinken said the US and Israel “see eye to eye” on Iran despite disagreements on the nuclear deal.

The so-called Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action gave Iran relief from heavy sanctions in return for curbs on its nuclear program to prevent it from obtaining atomic weapons, a goal Tehran denies it seeks. In 2018, the Trump administration pulled the US out of the deal and reimposed sanctions. Iran has responded by dropping many of its commitments and ramping up its nuclear program.

European-sponsored talks in Vienna are aiming to bring the US back into the deal and see Iran recommit to its terms in return for lifted sanctions.

Ahead of the 2015 JCPOA, signed under then-US president Barack Obama, then-prime minister Netanyahu waged a very public campaign against the agreement, going so far as giving an address to the US Congress opposing the deal, despite Obama’s support for it. The deal was ultimately signed, and Netanyahu’s speech was seen as further fracturing the relationship between Israel and that administration, as well as with the Democratic party.

Last week, Bennett said he has no intention of creating a public rift with the United States over the renewed nuclear deal with Iran, which he said he believes Washington will sign no matter what.

According to Army Radio, Bennett told cabinet ministers privately that Israel had to choose its battles with the US carefully, and was currently focusing on dissuading Washington from delisting Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) as a terror group as part of the negotiations.

Later Sunday, Blinken was set to participate in the Negev Summit, a gathering of four foreign ministers from Arab sates in southern Israel that was hosted by Lapid. The ministers were to discuss regional security issues, with Iran expected to be top of the agenda.

Source: https://www.timesofisrael.com/netanyahu-blinken-making-a-big-mistake-on-iran-nuclear-deal/

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“We also share and are united in addressing the challenges posed by Iran, including it’s nuclear program. There is no daylight between us on the fundamental proposition that Iran must not be allowed to acquired a nuclear weapon.”

He says the US will maintain that stance regardless if a new Iran nuclear deal is reached.

“Deal or no deal, we will continue to work together and with other partners to counter Iran’s destabilizing behavior in the region,” he says.

He hails Israel’s “important diplomatic efforts” to mediate between Moscow and Kyiv, and praises Israeli humanitarian support such as the establishment of a field hospital in western Ukraine.

Blinken also reiterates US support for a two-state solution and welcomes meetings between Israeli ministers and top Palestinian Authority officials, “including Defense Minister Benny Gantz.”

Source: https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog_entry/blinken-deal-or-no-deal-well-keep-working-with-israel-to-counter-iran/

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(March 14, 2022 / Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs) According to political sources in Jerusalem, during their meeting at the Kremlin on March 5, Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett and Russian President Vladimir Putin discussed the Iranian threat and the Islamic Republic’s military entrenchment in Syria. Though the details of their conversation are unknown, senior Israeli security sources say Iran is exploiting the war in Ukraine to shore up its military presence in Syria.

The Syrian army now controls almost all of southern Syria. It closely coordinates with the Iranian militias, which significantly concerns Israel.

The anticipated nuclear deal between Iran and world powers is also no longer the focus of international interest, which naturally has shifted to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The signing of the deal may also be delayed by Russia’s demand of the United States that sanctions on Russia be lifted in the context of the deal. In the absence of a new deal, Iran can keep violating the 2015 agreement by enriching uranium beyond the allowed threshold.

If the nuclear deal is not signed in the coming days, Iran will be able to race toward the bomb with no international monitoring.

Putin has a clear interest in undercutting the nuclear deal, which President Biden is keen on signing as soon as possible. Although the Iranians are expressing concern about the delay, they are also keeping an eye on the United States, which is under tremendous pressure, and rubbing their hands in glee as Putin, their ally, makes life difficult for Biden.

The Israeli military recently beefed up preparedness on the northern border after Iran announced the deaths of two Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps officers in an alleged Israeli strike near Damascus International Airport. According to Israeli security sources, the two officers were involved in Hezbollah’s precision-guided missile project.

Residents of southern Lebanon have expressed fear that the Iranian response would be carried out by Hezbollah from there. However, Israel Defense Force sources believe the response could also come from pro-Iran militias in Syria, Iraq or Yemen, using missiles or drones.

The Israeli assessment is that the Iranian response will come, but may be delayed by the Vienna nuclear talks. With the talks reportedly on the verge of an agreement (before Russia made its demand for its own sanctions relief), Israel believes that for now, Iran will not want to risk an escalation and the loss of the new status the agreement will grant it in terms of selling oil to Western countries.

The two Iranian colonels killed in the strikes were laid to rest in a large, official funeral in Tehran attended by former IRGC commander Brig.-Gen. Mohammad Ali Jafari and IRGC Aerospace Force Commander Brig.-Gen. Amir Ali Hajizadeh. Iran threatened to take revenge against Israel, and Israeli military intelligence believes the threat is serious and will be carried out.

In 2018, seven Iranians were killed in an Israeli strike on the Tiyas military airbase (aka the T-4 airbase) east of Homs in Syria, including Col. Mehdi Dehghan Yazdeli, a commander from the IRGC Aerospace Force’s Shahid Karimi UAV base. In that case, the Iranians responded by firing dozens of rockets at Israeli targets in the Golan Heights.

While the cannons roar in Ukraine, Iran is active

As the war in Ukraine continues, the Iranians have begun a series of coordinated diplomatic and military moves with the Russian regime.

On Feb. 27, Gen. Ali Mamlouk, the head of Syria’s National Security Bureau, visited Tehran for the first time in two years, meeting with Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi and Ali Shamkhani, secretary-general of Iran’s National Security Council. They discussed tightening security coordination and preparations for any possible repercussions for Syria from the war in Ukraine.

In the meeting with Ali Mamlouk, the Iranians also asked for quicker implementation of the Iranian-Syrian economic memorandums of understanding regarding energy, agricultural produce and the transportation sector. Alongside military activity, Iran is also deepening its economic involvement in Syria.

According to Israeli security sources, the Iranian militias in Syria have stepped up their activity in the south, in the Daraa and Suwayda regions, which worries Jordan’s King Abdullah, especially in light of increased drug smuggling from Syria to Jordan and from there to the Gulf States.

Iran has also intensified its arms smuggling to Syria and Lebanon, including drones, precision-guided missiles and aerial-defense systems. According to Syrian sources, Israel is worried that Russia will help the Syrian army intercept its aircraft. Hence, it has preferred to attack Iranian targets in Syria with surface-to-surface missiles.

On March 2, Falih al-Fayyadh, one of the heads of the umbrella organization of the pro-Iranian militias in Iraq, Al-Hashd al-Shabi (the Popular Mobilization Forces), paid a visit to Damascus. There he met with Syrian President Bashar Assad and discussed the reinforcement of security on the Iraqi-Syrian border and the curtailing of the activity of the Kurds in Syria.

Russia’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine and conquest of large swaths of territory may, in the Iranians’ assessment, force Russia to transfer some of its military forces from Syria to Ukraine. As a result, Russia’s military power in Syria could decline while Iran’s military power and influence could grow.

Israel is concerned that Russia will give Syria its advanced S-300 anti-aircraft defense system. This system is already present in Syria, but Russian soldiers currently operate it. Its operation by the Syrian army’s air-defense forces could hamper the Israeli Air Force’s freedom of action in attacking Iranian targets in Syria.

A calming signal from Russia

A few days ago, the Russian embassy in Israel announced that the security coordination in Syria between the IDF and the Russian army would continue, affirming that “Our military officials discuss the practical issues of this substantively on a daily basis. This mechanism has proven to be useful and will continue to work.”

The Russian embassy posted on Facebook: “We are maintaining close contacts with our Israeli colleagues. We do not want Syrian territory to be used for actions against Israel or anyone else.”

As the war in Ukraine continues, however, things could change. In January 2022, Russian warplanes conducted a joint aerial patrol with Syrian planes along the Golan border to warn Israel about its attacks in Syria. The Russians are playing a carrot-and-stick game, and Israel does not want to find itself in a confrontation with them.

It is unclear how the Israeli attempt to mediate between Russia and Ukraine will turn out, or what will happen in Syria if Israel eventually has to side unequivocally with Ukraine and the United States. Israel cannot zigzag and “walk between the raindrops” indefinitely to maintain its freedom of action in Syria.

With Putin, there is no free lunch. At the moment, he is using Israel’s services to achieve his goals. However, ultimately what matters is interests, and in the course of the war in Ukraine, the picture could change rapidly, possibly to Israel’s detriment.

Yoni Ben Menachem, a veteran Arab affairs and diplomatic commentator for Israel Radio and Television, is a senior Middle East analyst for the Jerusalem Center. He served as director general and chief editor of the Israel Broadcasting Authority.

This article was first published by the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs.

Source: https://www.jns.org/opinion/iran-is-using-the-war-in-ukraine-to-strengthen-its-presence-in-syria/

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These statements weren’t surprising given the widespread impression that the Abraham Accords—which later grew to include Bahrain, Sudan, and Morocco—were motivated largely by Arab fear of and animosity toward Iran. Israel’s comments, suggesting it aimed to use the accords as a platform to build a “regional NATO” to deter Tehran, fed this impression and underlined the fact that Israel, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE see Iran as a common enemy and have quietly collaborated for years to prevent Tehran from establishing hegemony in the Persian Gulf and Middle East at large.

However, recent events in the region highlight the need to use the Abraham Accords not only as a stick to threaten Iran, but as a means of defusing tension in the region.

First and foremost, it’s important to remember that the UAE and Israel have fundamentally different relationships with Iran that stems, in part, from their respective regional positions (in addition to the obvious major differences in religion and political systems).

The UAE has had territorial and other disputes with Iran for decades, including Iran’s occupation of three small islands in the Persian Gulf since the days of Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, as well as ongoing differences in Yemen. But the UAE and, particularly Dubai, have also had lucrative economic relations with Tehran. Given the UAE’s status as a global hub for trade, tourism, and investment, the UAE relies on stability and is no longer entirely confident that the United States would come to its aid in the event of a military confrontation with Iran.

Both the UAE and Saudi Arabia have engaged in talks with Tehran following attacks on oil tankers off the coast of the UAE and missile and drone strikes on Saudi Aramco’s Abqaiq oil facility in 2019, which occurred after the Donald Trump administration withdrew from the Iran nuclear deal. On April 28, 2021, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman went so far as to say that the Kingdom is seeking “a good and positive relationship with Iran.”

The UAE’s situation is further complicated by its geography: it’s adjacent to Iran and home to a sizable Iranian community. Far from looking for a confrontation, many Emiratis are concerned that a military conflict could destroy its impressive but fragile infrastructure.

Israel, on the other hand, sees Iran as an imminent existential threat. Apart from conversations between former officials, Israel and Iran have had no overt contact for years and actively oppose each other directly and through proxies.

Unless Iran gets close to a nuclear breakout capability, Israel and the UAE aren’t likely to move against Iran together overtly—the UAE has too much to lose. But the Emirates could help defuse tension with Iran at a time when Israeli military activity in Syria continues against Iran.

Recent events concerning tensions between Iran and Israel only sharpen the need to create a communication channel between the parties to prevent escalation. The March 7 killing of two members of the IRGC, which has been attributed to Israel, and reports of an alleged Israeli attack on a drones factory run by the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps near Kermanshah in February, together with the Iranian response—which included the firing of missiles at what Tehran alleges was a Mossad base in Iraqi Kurdistan, in addition to a cyber-attack on Israeli government sites on March 14—may bring the parties closer to an armed confrontation than in any other point in their history.

The UAE could help avoid escalation by establishing a “hotline” to reduce the risk of miscalculations that lead to war. This could be especially useful at a time when Russia, which might have served such a role in the past, is preoccupied with the war in Ukraine and its consequences.

In recent months, there has been a dramatic change when it comes to diplomatic relations and connections among some Middle Eastern countries. From a situation in which most countries didn’t talk to Israel or often even each other, there are new connections and a re-evaluation of the role of the United States.

Israel, lacking any overt channel of communication with the leadership in Tehran, has been left with the “language” of drones and missiles, with the danger that the “war between the wars” could escalate into the real thing. A new indirect channel is needed to help prevent this.

The relationship that Israel has managed to build with Hamas in the Gaza Strip—through Egypt as mediator—is an example of such a relationship. Although Hamas rejects Israel’s right to exist and Israel sees Hamas as a terrorist organization, the Egyptian channel has sometimes made it possible to prevent and contain conflict.

The United States, which also lacks relations with Iran, has previously used Qatar, Oman, and the Vienna process to facilitate discreet dialogue with Tehran. Despite the common perception that the Abraham Accords is anti-Iran, there are constructive ways to use new relationships in the region to keep the present, uneasy peace. Arab Gulf countries should create a communication channel between Israel and Iran. It will not be easy, but it could keep hostility from triggering a regional war.

Danny Citrinowicz served for twenty-five years in a variety of command positions units in Israel Defense Intelligence (IDI) including as the head of the Iran branch in the Research and Analysis Division (RAD) in the Israeli defense intelligence and as the division’s representative in the United States. Follow him on Twitter: @citrinowicz.

Source: https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/blogs/iransource/israel-and-iran-need-to-turn-down-the-heat-the-uae-could-be-the-best-choice-as-conduit-%ef%bf%bc/

The post Israel and Iran need to turn down the heat. The UAE could be the best choice as conduit first appeared on Garner Ted Armstrong Evangelistic Association.

I have been a loyal American and friend of Israel for as long as I can remember. Although the two are not mutually exclusive, they are not a contradiction in terms, either. In our current environment of conveniently blaming Israel and, by extension, Jews for everything bad that occurs at any time or any place in the world, we must keep in mind that Jews seek justice in order to survive; whereas its enemies seek fabrications to justify their lies, defamations and curses, all the while motivating their children to kill.

The tactics of repeating false accusations over and over at every opportune moment appears to be successfully gaining converts. Even from within the Jewish community, some members of the tribe succumb to the scurrilous beliefs being promoted. Some hate promoters employ misdirection, double standards and outrageous slander and libel to achieve their goals. For too many non-Jews, it appears easier to just join their ranks than extend the effort and thinking skills to appreciate the flaws in their baseless war of words, which identify Israel as an ethnic-cleansing, Apartheid, Nazi-like agent who massacred Palestinians with the May, 1948 rebirth of State of Israel and episodically thereafter.

Such nonsense has been enabled since the traditionally Jewish/Israel supporting US Democratic Party swung its influence towards “new” underdogs favored by progressive US Reps including Ilhan Omar (D-Minnesota) and Rashid Tliab (D-Michigan), among others. No matter what they do, there appears to be no consequential actions forthcoming from their immediate boss, Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi (D-California) or from her boss, US President Joe Biden. So they escape unscathed.

My parents, both loyal Democrats, reminded me on many occasions, especially when they were targets of antisemitism that bullies do what they do because they can. Carrying this sad state of affairs forward; Americans find themselves confronting racism, while putting the other equally offensive ‘ism,’ antisemitism, on the back burner as it lacks sufficient popular willingness to initiate legislative means to effectively combat it whenever and wherever it raises its ugly head.

On the world stage, anti-Israel acts and antisemitism are indirectly being alluded to in Vienna, Austria as the “re-upping” of the original Obama advocated 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action Iran nuclear accords/protocols are being discussed. Unfortunately its nuclear enrichment and ballistic missile development limits were dismissed by the principal signatory, Iran.

This led to financial and other sanctions being levied by former President Trump’s administration to bring Iran into line. It didn’t work.

Even with total visibility, the consequences for regional destabilization and existential threats to Israel fell upon an enemy that does not appear to respect Israel or the United States. This being most especially so, when we recall chants emanating from within Iran threatening, “death to Israel’’ and “death to America.”

President Biden’s actions may eventually be judged by future generations not so much for what he did, but rather for what he should have done to assure Israel and our American constitutional way of life, its permanence in the face of an angry, unswerving Iran.

Iran makes indelible demands seemingly to intimidate others, rather than to launch legitimate negotiations. It shows no willingness to concede positions on pivotal issues including: 1) perceived proxy based terrorism; 2) perceived human rights abuses; including hostage taking; 3) perceived destabilizing militia sponsorships; 4) intercontinental ballistic missile development and testing; 5) removal of sophisticated, strategically located missiles throughout Lebanon, as well as rockets housed within Gaza; each presumably intended to challenge its avowed enemy, Israel; and 6) its inhibiting of monitoring International Atomic Energy Agency nuclear inspectors, accessing all Iranian nuclear sites; operational and those in development.

The Vienna attending nations including, France, Germany, the United Kingdom, China, Russia, the European Union and the US must wisely determine, before adjourning if; 1) Iran is more reliable now than it was in 2015? 2) America can be safeguarded from adversarial use of its contributed money ($10b. demanded by Iran as an initial show of good will), as well as expected sanction relief flowing funds; being used against itself or our ally Israel? This potential commands oversight; and 3) Biden can be counted upon to keep his pivotal promise to assure Israel’s solidness. “The United States will… never allow Iran to obtain a nuclear weapon.”

The answers to the following may likely not be known unless and until Iran assumes a wartime footing. They include: is Iran developing terrorist infrastructures in Syria, Gaza, Judea and Samaria, while transferring strategic weapons to Hezbollah?; Has Iran put into place infrastructure so as to facilitate attacks on Jewish and Israeli targets abroad?; Besides Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps forces, are Hezbollah in Lebanon, the Houthi movement in Yemen, agents in Iraq, militias in Syria, the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, the PA and Hamas on active alert to engage suspected enemy forces?

Were ostensibly menacing circumstances reported by a number of news sources on March 21 and 22; that allege potential threats sourced to Iran to target Fort McNair, a US Army post in Washington, as well as alleged threats to the army’s vice chief of staff, on base proven credible?

If so, Iran should not be rewarded with its demanded incentives. It needs to prove itself as something other than an active threat to America and its only proven ally in the Middle East – Israel.

The stakes are too high and the risks too great to ignore or minimize Iran’s budding capabilities, which the US can ill afford; since the relatively recent debacle of seemingly abandoning the citizenry of Afghanistan to the Taliban.

The writer is author of the geopolitical thriller First the ‘Saturday People’ and Then the… and an op-ed contributor to The Miami Herald, The Washington Examiner, The Jerusalem Post, American Thinker and other media resources.

Source: https://www.jpost.com/opinion/article-689415

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During an event hosted by the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, Robert Malley said that the US has made clear to Iran’s representatives that “we are prepared to remove all of the sanctions that were imposed by the Trump administration that were inconsistent with the [nuclear] deal, and therefore we could get back to the business that we should have been on.”

“That’s where we are today, and I think that’s the choice that Iran faces,” Malley said. “Are they prepared to go back to that or do they want to choose a different path?”

Despite the White House’s overtures, Malley added, “the Iranians have refused to have direct communication with us, direct contact with us, so everything has been done through intermediaries.”

“It’s not a particularly constructive [format], it’s one that lends itself to delays, it’s one that lends itself to misunderstandings, and all of that has happened.”

Then-President Donald Trump withdrew the US from the nuclear deal in May 2018. Representatives of the other five nations who signed the pact — China, France, Germany, Russia and the United Kingdom — have taken part in six rounds of face-to-face meetings in the Austrian capital this year, with the US participating indirectly.

Iran has hinted it’s ready for more talks, but has not committed to a date. Meanwhile, it has blown through limits on its nuclear activities that had been set by the deal.

Last month, a US-based think tank reported that Tehran could produce enough weapons-grade uranium for an atomic bomb within a month.

“Every day that goes by, we’re getting a piece of Iran’s answer,” Malley said Wednesday. “Every day where they [the Iranians] are not coming back to the table, every day where they’re making statements about how little was achieved in Vienna, which is what the current team is saying, is telling us that this is a team that may not, in fact, be prepared to come back into what we would consider … full mutual return to compliance.”

“And so, of course, we have to prepare for a world, which we’re doing now in consultation with our partners from the region … where Iran doesn’t have constraints on its nuclear program and we have to consider options for dealing with that, which is what we’re doing even as we hope that we can get back to the deal,” he went on. “That is by far our preference. But as I said, Iran is giving us its answer by what it’s doing and not doing every day and we need to take that into account.”

Malley said he would be traveling soon to Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar to discuss the matter with leaders there.

Meanwhile, Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid said Wednesday that they have opened discussions on “other options” for action should the US rejoin the nuclear deal and Iran reject an offer to come back into compliance with it.

“Time is running short,” Blinken said at a joint event with Lapid and UAE Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah Bin Zayed Al Nahyan. “We are prepared to turn to other options if Iran doesn’t change course, and these consultations with our allies and partners are part of it.”

Blinken did not elaborate on what those “other options” were, but noted ominously that “it takes two to engage in diplomacy, and we have not seen from Iran a willingness to do that at this point.”

“There are moments when nations must use force to protect the world from evil,” Lapid chimed in. “If a terror regime is going to acquire a nuclear weapon we must act. We must make clear that the civilized world won’t allow it. If the Iranians don’t believe the world is serious about stopping them, they will race to the bomb.”

Lapid had met Tuesday with Vice President Kamala Harris as well as National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan to convey Israel’s concerns about the US rejoining the nuclear deal and restoring sanctions relief.

With Post wire

Source: https://nypost.com/2021/10/13/biden-special-envoy-warns-us-must-prepare-for-fully-nuclear-iran/

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“We vehemently ask Iran to return to the negotiating table constructively and as soon as possible,” a ministry spokesperson told a briefing. “We are ready to do so, but the time window won’t be open indefinitely.”

A sixth round of indirect talks between Tehran and Washington was adjourned two days after hardliner Ebrahim Raisi was elected Iran’s president. Raisi took office on August 5.

Since April, Iran and six powers have tried to work out how Tehran and Washington can both return to compliance with the nuclear pact, which former U.S. President Donald Trump abandoned in 2018 and reimposed harsh sanctions on Tehran.

The Iranian flag waves in front of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) headquarters, amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, in Vienna, Austria May 23, 2021. REUTERS/Leonhard Foeger

German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas gives a statement before a virtual meeting of NATO Foreign and Defence Ministers in Berlin, Germany, June 1, 2021. Bernd von Jutrczenka/Pool via REUTERS

In reaction, Tehran has violated the nuclear limits of the accord, under which Iran agreed to curb its nuclear work in exchange for lifting international sanctions.

Last month, France, Germany and Britain voiced grave concern about reports from the U.N. nuclear watchdog confirming Iran has produced uranium metal enriched up to 20% fissile purity for the first time and lifted production capacity of uranium enriched to 60%. Iran denies seeking nuclear weapons. read more

The next round of talks has yet to be scheduled.

Two senior Iranian officials told Reuters in July Raisi planned to adopt “a harder line” in the talks. Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian said on Monday the talks might resume in “two to three months”.

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Source: https://www.reuters.com/world/germany-urges-resumption-iran-nuclear-talks-2021-09-01/?rpc=401&

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Defense Minister Benny Gantz at a state memorial ceremony marking 7 years since Operation Protective Edge at the National Memorial Hall at the entrance to the military cemetery on Mount Herzl, June 20, 2021. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

Defense Minister Benny Gantz on Monday said Israel and the United States had restored intelligence ties and were working to develop a “Plan B” if the stalled talks between Washington and Tehran regarding a fresh Iran nuclear deal sputter out, following a meeting between Prime Minister Naftali Bennett and US President Joe Biden last week.

Gantz warned that if Iran becomes a nuclear state, it will trigger an international arms race in which many other nations, in the Middle East and beyond, will attempt to acquire an atomic bomb.

“The United States and Israel share intelligence information, and the cooperation with the United States in this field is only getting stronger. We are working with them in order to establish a Plan B and to demonstrate that if there is no deal, other activities will begin, as President Biden said,” the defense minister said, speaking to military correspondents ahead of the Jewish New Year next week.

On Friday, the US president told a joint press conference with Bennett that his administration was “ready to turn to other options” if diplomatic talks with Iran failed, likely alluding to the possibility of clandestine operations and military strikes.

The White House meeting came a day after US officials told the New York Times that Israel’s previous administration had downgraded intelligence sharing with the US after Biden took office. Bennett has sought to restore ties with US Democrats after their relationship with former prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu became frayed, though Iran was the focus of the Friday meeting.

Gantz did not specify what the “Plan B” could entail, but Israeli officials have signaled a need for a credible military threat to deter Iran from pursuing nuclear weapons.

Gantz’s comments joined a flurry of threats by Israeli defense officials toward Iran in recent days, including Israel Defense Forces Chief of Staff Aviv Kohavi, who told reporters last week that the military was preparing plans and funding for a potential military strike on Iran’s nuclear facilities.

“We are allocating resources in order to strengthen our ability to act against challenges in the region, chief among them Iran,” Gantz said.

US President Joe Biden (right) shakes hands with Prime Minister Naftali Bennett as they meet in the Oval Office of the White House, Friday, Aug. 27, 2021, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

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The defense minister made his comments during an extended briefing with reporters at the Defense Ministry’s offices in Tel Aviv’s Kirya military base, focusing on Iran along with his meeting Sunday with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, the lingering threats from the Gaza Strip following May’s conflict with terror groups there, the Middle East in general and the ongoing efforts by the government to pass the budget and fund the Defense Ministry’s programs.

“A defense budget allows us to rearm and allows for the operational ability that we need, alongside important social considerations. We are working to improve fortifications in the north and to build the [Lebanese border] barrier that was held up for years,” Gantz said.

Referring to recent efforts by the government to encourage ultra-Orthodox men to perform national service, the defense minister said he was working to expand this in order to get a larger majority of Israelis to enlist, warning that if this is not accomplished within the next decade, Israel will be forced to move to a professional, volunteer military.

“The goal is to get more than 70 percent of people to serve each year, when today we only have roughly 50 percent,” Gantz said.

The defense minister said he instructed the IDF to begin preparing for the possibility that it will have to continue to support the national pandemic response through the end of 2022, after initially planning to scale back the military’s involvement in these efforts following this year’s massive vaccination drive.

Strengthening the PA

Gantz reiterated his support for strengthening the Palestinian Authority, which works closely with Israel on security issues, particularly against Hamas and other terror groups in the West Bank. However, the PA is often maligned in Israel for its financial support for terrorism in the form of stipend to the families of Palestinians imprisoned in Israeli on terrorism charges or killed as they perpetrated terror attacks, as well as for its repeated efforts to gain unilateral recognition as a state in international forums such as the United Nations.

“I told Abbas that we aren’t going anywhere and that the Palestinians aren’t going anywhere. I went to the meeting in order to build confidence and preserve the interests of the State of Israel and the important ties we have with the Palestinian Authority, which I believe we need to strengthen,” Gantz said.

“As the Palestinian Authority gets stronger, Hamas gets weaker, and so long as it has greater governance, we will have more security and we will have to act less,” he added.

The defense minister did not bring up the possibility of renewed peace talks with the Palestinians, and an official close to the prime minister told reporters earlier in the day that “there is no diplomatic process with the Palestinians nor will there be.”

Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas delivers a speech regarding the Coronavirus outbreak (COVID-19), at the Palestinian Authority headquarters, in the West Bank city of Ramallah, May 5, 2020. (Courtesy Flash90)

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Regarding the Gaza Strip, which has recently seen a significant increase in violence along the border, Gantz said Israel was maintaining its policy of making full reconstruction and further development of the enclave contingent upon the release of two Israeli civilians and the remains of two fallen IDF soldiers from Hamas captivity.

The defense minister said the military would also continue to strike more forcefully than it did in the past in response to low-level violence along the border, such as the launching of balloon-borne incendiary devices.

“We said that what had been will not be again, and what had been is not what is happening now. This is in terms of the nature and strength of our retaliations, in the different mechanism through which Qatari funds are being transferred, also on civilian issues and on the dependence of reconstruction on the captives, as I said at the end of the operation,” Gantz said.

Echoing similar comments made recently by IDF chief Kohavi, the defense minister warned that Israel may be at the outset of a fresh round of fighting in Gaza, continuing the campaign from May’s 11-day conflict, known in Israel as Operation Guardian of the Walls, if the violence along the border continues.

“Our strikes in Gaza have been precise and have hit rearmament facilities that are painful for Hamas and that deny it capabilities. I cannot promise that we will not have to continue with a 12th day of Guardian of the Walls,” he said.

Gantz also noted that rocket attacks from Lebanon, which began during Operation Guardian of the Walls, appeared to be the work of Palestinian terror cells linked to Hamas.

During the fighting in Gaza, three rounds of rocket fire were launched at northern Israel, causing neither injuries nor damage. A fourth attack was launched on July 20 and a fifth on August 4 by these Palestinian cells.

Israeli self-propelled howitzers fire towards Lebanon from a position near the northern Israeli town of Kiryat Shmona following Hezbollah rocket fire from the Lebanese side of the border, on August 6, 2021. (JALAA MAREY / AFP)

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“We have seen that Hamas International is trying to create an infrastructure in Lebanon,” Gantz said.

The IDF does not see these cells as a major threat, but has allocated additional intelligence resources to monitoring them. The main threat in Lebanon remains the Iran-backed Hezbollah terrorist militia.

After Israel retaliated forcefully to the August 4 attack, Hezbollah fired 19 rockets at northern Israel, the first time the organization has openly launched such an attack since the 2006 Second Lebanon War. These rocket attacks from Lebanon raised the specter of a potential two-front war in the future, in which Israel would have to fight both Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon.

“The humanitarian situation in Lebanon is very worrying, but so are the rearmament efforts of Hezbollah. We are prepared for the possibility of fighting on the northern front, including a situation in which we would be fighting on northern and southern fronts,” Gantz said.

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Source: https://www.timesofisrael.com/israel-and-us-working-on-plan-b-if-iran-nuke-talks-fail-gantz-says/

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