Iran on agenda when U.S. national security adviser visits Israel

Iran’s nuclear program and threats posed by Tehran will be discussed when U.S. national security adviser Jake Sullivan travels to Israel to meet Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s new government.

“I’ll be going to Israel and that will be a substantial topic of conversation when I go,” he said.

Speaking to reporters traveling with President Joe Biden on a trip to Mexico City, Sullivan did not say when his trip would take place. A National Security Council spokesperson said dates were still being worked out.

Sullivan said efforts to revive an Iran nuclear deal opposed by Israel had been set aside for now while Washington pressures Iran to stop sending drones to Russia for use in its war against Ukraine and seeks to stop a crackdown on Iranian demonstrators.

Israel has opposed Biden’s attempts to revive the Iran nuclear deal, concerned that it will not stop Tehran’s development of a nuclear weapon.

“We’ll have the opportunity to engage deeply with the new Israeli government on the threat posed by Iran. And I think we share the same fundamental objectives. And we will work through any differences we have on tactics, the same way that we have over the course of the past two years,” Sullivan said.

In Jerusalem, Netanyahu said he would discuss Iran with the American team.

“The time has come for Israel and the U.S. to be on the same page, together with states – I expect to discuss this with President Biden and his staff. There is now more unanimity on the subject than at any other time,” Netanyahu said.