Senior Israeli officials are expected to meet in Paris with Steve Whitkoff, the US president’s special envoy to the Middle East, an Israeli official told CNN.
The meeting comes on the eve of the second round of Iran talks scheduled for tomorrow.
Israel’s Minister of Strategic Affairs Ron Dermer — a close confidant of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu — and Mossad Director David Barnea will meet with Witkoff today, the official said.
Netanyahu’s office issued a statement yesterday defending the aggressive policy he is pursuing towards Iran.
“As the prime minister has repeatedly made clear: Israel will not allow Iran to obtain nuclear weapons,” his office said in a statement. The statement was released after the New York Times reported that the Trump administration had blocked Israel from preparing a military strike against Iran’s nuclear programme as early as next month.
The prime minister’s office did not deny the veracity of the article, instead claiming that Israel’s actions delayed Iran’s nuclear programme.
Steve Whitkoff said on April 15 that Iran “must halt and dismantle its nuclear enrichment and weapons programme”.
At the same time, Whitkoff told Fox News Channel hours earlier that the Donald Trump administration was seeking to limit Iran’s uranium enrichment to 3.67 per cent. That’s the limit set in the 2015 nuclear deal, which Trump cancelled in 2018.
“Iran should not possess nuclear weapons, and it should not enrich uranium above 3.67 per cent,” Witkoff said.
He made the arguably tougher statement after negative reactions on social media when the Trump administration was accused of repeating the 2015 deal, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).