Blinken reassures allies ahead of possible Iran deal

Security of Israel, its neighbors comes first, U.S. affirms.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Sunday sought to reassure a wary Israel and its Gulf Arab allies that the Biden administration is committed to their security ahead of the possi- ble renewal of global powers’ international nuclear deal with Iran.

Blinken made the com- ments shortly before joining his counterparts from Israel and four Arab coun- tries at a special gathering where the Iranian nuclear deal was expected to top the agenda. Israel and many of its neighbors are fiercely opposed to the deal, which they believe with embolden and enrich Iran.

“When it comes to the most important element, we see eye-to-eye,” Blinken said at a news conference with Israel’s foreign minister. “We are both committed, both determined that Iran will never acquire a nuclear weapon.”

The Biden administra- tion has been working to renew the 2015 nuclear deal, which placed curbs on Iran’s nuclear program in exchange for billions of dollars in sanctions relief. With support from Israel, the Trump administration withdrew from the deal in 2018, causing it to unravel.

Although Iran has since raced ahead with its nuclear program, Israel and Gulf Arab countries are deeply concerned about restoring the original deal. Israel fears it does not include enough safeguards to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons. Both Israel and its Gulf allies also believe that relief from economic sanctions will allow Iran to step up its military activities across the region, including support for hostile militant groups.

Blinken said the U.S. believes that restoring the nuclear deal “is the best way to put Iran’s program back in the box it was in.” He also vowed to cooperate with Israel to counter Iran’s “aggressive behavior” across the region.

It remains unclear if or when the nuclear deal will be renewed, but there are indications it could be soon despite several last-minute snags, such as Iran’s demand for the U.S. to lift its designation of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards as a “foreign terrorist organization.”

Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett told Blinken he hopes “the United States will hear the concerned voices from the region — Israel’s

and others — on this very important issue.”

Israel and its neighbors believe any easing of sanctions and the delisting to the IRGC would embolden Iranian-backed militant groups from Hezbollah in Lebanon to the Houthis in Yemen, who have recent launched several rocket attacks on the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia, and Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken