US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Tuesday pledged to continue close consultations with Israel on any potential US return to a nuclear deal between Iran and world powers.

After talks with Blinken in Jerusalem, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he hoped Washington would not sign the agreement again, and that “no matter what, Israel will always retain the right to defend itself” against any Iranian nuclear threat.

Indirect talks between Washington and Tehran, which deny that its nuclear program aims to produce weapons, are underway in Vienna.

Blinken, on a mission to the Middle East to try to consolidate last week’s ceasefire between Israel and Hamas leaders in Gaza, said the United States would continue to strengthen its “long-standing partnership” with Israel. Read more

This, he told reporters, with Netanyahu at his side, “includes close consultation with Israel as we did today on the ongoing negotiations in Vienna around a potential return to the deal. Iranian nuclear “.

To Israeli acclaim, US President Joe Biden’s predecessor Donald Trump withdrew the US from the 2015 nuclear deal, deeming it too good for Tehran, and reimposed US sanctions.

The Biden administration has since sought to appease Israel, which views a nuclear-weaponized Iran as an existential threat.

On Sunday, Blinken said the United States has yet to see whether Iran will follow through on its nuclear commitments so that sanctions are lifted even as talks have shown progress. Read more

The Israeli teams have had discussions in Washington with their American counterparts on the potential resumption of the agreement.

“I hope the United States will not revert to the old JCPOA (Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action) because we believe this agreement paves the way for Iran to have an arsenal of nuclear weapons with legitimacy international, ”Netanyahu said.

(This story corrects the spelling of Blinken’s first name in the first paragraph)

Our Standards: Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.