Bennett ‘Saeed’ as Biden promotes ‘other options’ against Iran | Joe Biden News

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President Joe Biden said in a White House meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett that the United States remains committed to preventing Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons, citing “other options” if diplomacy with Tehran fails.

Despite his opposition to Washington’s efforts to revive the Iran nuclear deal, Bennett said he was “happy” with Biden’s statement in reference to bridging the gap between Israeli and US approaches toward Tehran.

Speaking to reporters before talks at the White House on Friday, Biden expressed an “unwavering commitment” to Israel’s security.

“We will also discuss the threat from Iran and our commitment to ensuring that Iran never develops a nuclear weapon,” Biden said.

We put diplomacy first and see where that leads us. But if diplomacy fails, we are ready to move on to other options.”

Bennett, like his predecessor Benjamin Netanyahu, was an outspoken opponent of the multilateral nuclear deal with Tehran.

However, he welcomed Biden’s remarks, emphasizing the US president’s reference to alternative policies of diplomacy.

“I was happy to hear your clear words that Iran will never be able to acquire a nuclear weapon and to confirm that we will try the diplomatic path, but there are other options,” the Israeli prime minister said.

Iran deal

The two leaders were scheduled to meet on Thursday, but their bilateral talks were postponed as Biden turned his attention to Afghanistan after a bombing outside the airport in Kabul killed about 175 people, including 13 US soldiers.

The White House said Biden spoke to Bennett on Thursday “to thank him for his willingness to postpone their meeting in light of the terrorist attacks in Kabul.”

Iran appeared to take first place in the bilateral talks on Friday.

The nuclear deal, signed in 2015, saw Iran reduce its nuclear program in exchange for the lifting of sanctions on its economy.

Former President Donald Trump scrapped the deal in 2018 and began a maximum sanctions pressure campaign against Iran.

Tehran responded by easing its commitments to the deal, including by increasing levels of uranium enrichment, shortening the time it would need to develop a nuclear weapon.

Iranian leaders assert that they are seeking nuclear technology for peaceful purposes and not acquiring nuclear weapons. Critics of Israel often point out that the country has its own nuclear arsenal and, unlike Iran, is not a party to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).

On Friday, Bennett called Iran the largest source of “terrorism, instability and human rights abuses.”

“We have developed a comprehensive strategy that we will talk about with two goals,” he said.

The first goal is to stop Iran from its regional aggression and start rolling it into the box. The second is to permanently remove Iran from the ability to penetrate nuclear weapons.”

As a candidate, Biden promised to restore the agreement. But six rounds of indirect talks with the Iranian government in Vienna failed to find a way back to the agreement.

Talks have stalled since June with the election of conservative President Ibrahim Raisi, whose cabinet was approved by parliament on Wednesday.

Earlier this week, Washington said it was still seeking to return to the agreement, known officially as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).

“We have made very clear that pursuing a mutual return to JCPOA compliance remains in our national interest,” State Department spokesman Ned Price said.

No mention of the Palestinians

Bennett, who has long opposed Palestinian statehood, never once mentioned Palestine or the Palestinians. He had said earlier in the week that he would not revive peace talks with the Palestinians.

As a former settler, he has also ruled out a freeze on settlement activity.

“This government will neither annex nor form a Palestinian state,” Bennett told the New York Times before arriving in Washington, DC.

For his part, Biden said that relations with the Palestinians will be on the agenda of the meeting.

“We will also discuss ways to promote peace, security, and prosperity for Israelis and Palestinians,” the US president said.

The failure to mention the Palestinians shows that the Palestinian issue is not on Bennett’s political or moral radar, said Khalil Jahshan, executive director of the Arab Center in Washington, D.C., a think-tank.

He made it clear before leaving his country that he is against the two-state solution. He is against a Palestinian state. Jahshan told Al Jazeera that he is against a settlement freeze – three issues that are integral to the core of Biden’s approach to the Palestinians.

While some defenders of the Palestinian cause may have hoped for Biden’s pressure against Bennett, Jahshan said, the administration has other priorities, chief among them Afghanistan.

“Some people were hoping that during this visit there would be some serious give and take. But again, Afghanistan came to the rescue, and the agenda changed,” he said.

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