Israel’s top soldier and President to lobby Europeans against Iran deal

IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Aviv Kochavi and President Reuven Rivlin travel on Tuesday to France, Germany and Austria to lobby their leaders against re-opening the 2015 nuclear accord with Iran and also highlight the threats coming from its Lebanese proxy, Hizballah. Rivlin and Kochavi will also relay government’s protest against the International Criminal Court’s decision to probe Israel for alleged war crimes.

On Friday, US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan disclosed that the Biden administration had initiated indirect talks with Iran. He told reporters, “There are communications through the Europeans and through others that enable us to explain to the Iranians what our position is, with respect to the compliance-for-compliance approach,” adding that a response was awaited from Tehran on how to proceed.

“We believe that we are in a diplomatic process now that we can move forward on, and ultimately secure our objective, which is to prevent Iran from getting a nuclear weapon and to do so through diplomacy,” said Sullivan.