Former Israeli officials call on Biden not to rejoin nuclear deal

Around 1,800 former Israeli security and Mossad officials have written to US President Joe Biden calling on him not to rejoin the nuclear deal with Iran, Israeli i24 TV reported on Monday. The signatories of the letter are apparently concerned that the US will rejoin the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), from which Donald Trump withdrew his country in 2018.

“From a strict security perspective, this approach represents an existential threat to the Jewish State [sic],” they wrote. “It also would work against your Administration’s stated goal of stabilising the Middle East, as such action would push Israel and her Sunni allies into a dangerous corner and potentially ignite a massive nuclear arms race.”

The former officials claimed that Iran is involved in “false brinkmanship and nuclear blackmail” in relation to the JCPOA. “[The US should] use the maximum pressure sanctions to demand Iran accept a more effective deal that will not include sunset clauses and will guarantee that Iran shall never have the capability to produce nuclear weapons,” they insisted.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in February that he had told Biden that he would prevent Iran from having nuclear weapons with or without a deal. Israel, meanwhile, has “enough plutonium for 100-200 nuclear weapons,” reported the Centre for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation last year.

READ: Israel, Saudi officials discuss Biden’s plans to rejoin Iran nuclear deal