Israeli delegation to visit Washington ahead of final Iran deal deadline
Xinhua, June 11, 2015 Adjust font size:
An Israeli delegation will head to Washington D.C. next week in a last-minute attempt to influence the inking of a nuclear deal with Iran, the Ha'aretz daily reported on Thursday.
Israeli National Security Adviser Yossi Cohen will head the delegation, the daily reported, quoting anonymous Israeli officials. The delegation will include members of the National Security Council, representatives from the Israeli foreign ministry and the defense ministry.
Cohen is expected to meet his counterpart, White House National Security Adviser Susan Rice, as well as members of the negotiations team with Iran, to try to influence the details of the deals in accordance with Israel's interests.
An Israeli official told the daily that the delegation aims to discuss the technicalities of the upcoming agreement, and try to suggest improvement on several clauses.
The daily said Israeli officials have also held talks in recent weeks with European countries, as Cohen visited France and Britain recently.
With the U.S. administration seeking to calm Israel ahead of the final agreement, Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) Chief John Brennan made a secret visit to Israel last week, in order to discuss the nuclear talks with Israeli officials.
The U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff Martin Dempsey also paid a visit to Israel this week, saying that the U.S. will continue its intense cooperation with Israel in those fields.
In early April, delegates of the P5+1 countries (the United States, Britain, Germany, Russia, China and France) announced reaching a framework agreement with Iran over the latter's nuclear program, adding that a final deal will be inked by June 30.
In contrast to the views of U.S. President Barack Obama, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, a known hardliner to Iran, reiterated the upcoming deal is not good and would not stop Iran from achieving a nuclear bomb.
Netanyahu had repeatedly stated that Iran is Israel's biggest threat as Iranian officials declared their intention to annihilate Israel. Iran, on its part, claims its nuclear program is aimed for peaceful purposes. Endit