Top Israeli defense officials are reportedly set to travel to the United States next week as part of Jerusalem's efforts to push for more international oversight in the revived Iran nuclear deal.
According to Israel's public broadcaster Kan, Mossad Director Yossi Cohen, National Security Adviser Meir Ben-Shabbat and IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Aviv Kohavi have been tasked with the job.
All three will head to Washington to seek a bolstered mandate for the inspectors with the United Nation's International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
Iran and world powers have been meeting in Vienna this month to discuss a possible return to the deal that effectively crumbled when then-U.S. president Donald Trump walked away in 2018 and slapped fresh sanctions on Iran.
Under the original deal, which was brokered during the presidency of Barack Obama, the IAEA was to inspect both official Iranian nuclear installations and suspected atomic sites. Iran, however, recently moved to slash UN body's capabilities through legislation.
Kan reported that Israel wants the IAEA to have more power after coming to the conclusion that the revived deal, to which the U.S. is expect to commit in the near future, will take into account hardly any of its concerns.
The concerns voiced by Israel and other regional states center on Iran's missile program and its support for terrorist groups and Shiite proxies that are destabilizing the region.
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Protesters carrying the flag of an Iranian opposition group stand opposite police officers near the Vienna hotel where the nuclear talks are taking place
(Photo: AP)
The Vienna talks are making headway, a senior European Union official said Tuesday, with meetings to resume next week after consultations in respective capitals.
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani also said Tuesday that 60-70% percent of the issues in the talks have been resolved.