Israel: No return to Iran nuclear deal before US mid-term elections

Israel believes that there will be no return to Iran’s nuclear deal before the US mid-term elections, senior Israeli officials said yesterday.

“If the US does not give into Iran’s demands, and Iran does not give into US demands and the IAEA does not close the probes, there will be no return to the agreement,” the Times of Israel reported the official saying.

According to the paper, the official claimed that Iran does not want to return to the deal without additional concessions, and Israel “does not have any expectation that Iran will agree [to a new deal].”

“Iran must be pressured by the West before it accepts a new deal,” the official continued, stressing that “there are many things that can be done to cause Iran to understand that time is not on its side.”

READ: Lapid: ‘too early to say we undermined Iran nuclear deal’

The European Union proposed last month a “final” draft of the agreement. Iran and the US responded to the text, with Washington saying on Friday that Iran’s latest reply was a step “backwards”.

The Israeli official recognised that Tel Aviv’s pressure on the US influenced the Biden administration’s position on the nuclear talks.

“We succeeded in swaying the Americans from making additional concessions to Iran,” said the official, adding that the US also committed to not give Iran any meaningful guarantees that a future administration won’t leave the deal.

The official also said that the Americans are committed not to remove all the sanctions placed on Iran.