‘US, Israel committed to preventing Iran getting N-bomb’

OCCUPIED-ALQUDS: The US and Israel are committed to ensure Iran does not acquire a nuclear weapon, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Sunday, as the allies acknowledged differences over negotiations with Tehran.

Blinken made the comments in Jerusalem alongside his Israeli counterpart Yair Lapid, who told reporters Israel had "disagreements" with Washington about a possible deal to revive the 2015 nuclear accord with Tehran.

Blinken said President Joe Biden’s administration believes that "the return to full implementation" of the deal was "the best way to put Iran’s programme back in the box that it was in but has escaped from since the United States withdrew from the agreement," under former president Donald Trump in 2018.

Israel’s government firmly opposed the terms of the 2015 deal and has said that re-activating the original deal is insufficient to curb the Iranian threat.

But, Blinken said, "when it comes to the most important element, (Israel and the US) see eye to eye. We are both committed, both determined, that Iran will never acquire a nuclear weapon." Lapid said that amid its differences with Washington, Israel remains in "open and honest dialogue" with its closest ally on the Iran nuclear issue.