A senior Biden administration official has said that US national security adviser Jake Sullivan will visit Israel this week for detailed discussions with Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett on Iran’s nuclear programme.
The visit, which is expected to begin on Tuesday, comes as negotiations in Vienna over Iran returning to the 2015 nuclear deal have shown modest gains, but remain far from a breakthrough.
The official told reporters, “We will talk about where we see the state of Iran’s nuclear program and some of the timelines.”
“It will be a good opportunity to sit down face-to-face and talk about the state of the talks, the timeframe in which we are working and to re-emphasise that we don’t have much time,” the official added.
Sullivan will be accompanied by the National Security Council’s Middle East director Brett McGurk and other US officials, and will also meet Palestinian President Mohammed Abbas in Ramallah in the occupied West Bank to discuss strengthening US relations with the Palestinians, the official said.
The Biden administration has made a return to Iran nuclear deal, from which former President Donald Trump withdrew in 2018, its top priority. The accord saw Iran agree to curb its nuclear programme in exchange for sanctions relief.
