Opinion on nuclear weapons
Biden assures Israel full backing against Iran
7/15/2022 4:07 am
During his visit to the Middle East, US President Biden reached an agreement with Israeli Prime Minister Lapid on one of the core issues of the partnership between the two countries: dealing with Iran. They never want the country to acquire nuclear weapons. Iran countered promptly.
The US has pledged to Israel that it will use all of its “national power” to prevent Iran from building a nuclear bomb. US President Joe Biden and Israel’s Prime Minister Jair Lapid signed an agreement on a “strategic partnership”, which includes statements on Iran’s nuclear program. The Iranian head of state Ebrahim Raisi warned in a reaction that his country would not accept “uncertainty and crises in the region”.
On Biden’s first visit to the Middle East since he took office a year and a half ago, Israel and the US reaffirmed the “unbreakable ties” between their countries in the “Jerusalem Declaration on the US-Israel Strategic Partnership”. The United States also pledged “never to allow Iran to acquire nuclear weapons and to use all elements of its national power to ensure this.”
In a televised address to the signing of the agreement, Raisi warned that any “mistake in this region” would be met with “a harsh and regrettable reaction”.
Under Trump, the United States withdrew from agreements
International efforts are currently underway to revive the nuclear deal signed with Iran in 2015. In 2018, under then-President Donald Trump, the United States unilaterally withdrew from the agreement intended to prevent Tehran from building nuclear weapons. As a result, Tehran no longer kept its obligations under the agreement and expanded its nuclear program again.
Western countries fear that Iran is developing nuclear weapons. Iran insists that its nuclear program is for purely civilian purposes. Israel firmly rejects the nuclear deal. Biden’s government, on the other hand, supports diplomatic efforts to revive the agreement.
In the new security agreement, the US also underscores its commitment to “maintain and strengthen Israel’s ability to deter its enemies and to defend itself against any threat or combination of threats.” Iran’s support for the radical Palestinian organizations Hamas and Islamic Jihad as well as for the Shiite Hezbollah in Lebanon is mentioned.
The statement also refers to the cooperation in the development of laser defense systems to defend Israeli airspace. At the beginning of his visit on Wednesday, the Israeli army showed Biden videos of the “Iron Beam”, a laser used to counter drones. According to Israeli information, this is crucial for combating the Iranian fleet of unmanned aircraft.
Biden wants to meet Mohammed bin Salman
Biden is scheduled to hold talks with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in the West Bank on Friday. According to a senior government official, the US President wants to announce “significant” support for hospitals in eastern Jerusalem and a project to build a 4G mobile network in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
Saudi Arabia is then the last stop on Biden’s Middle East trip. US President Biden is expected to support a “normalization” of relations between Israel and Saudi Arabia and an increase in the country’s oil production.
Biden also wants to meet Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, although according to US intelligence, Salman ordered the 2018 assassination of journalist Jamal Khashoggi in Istanbul. Before his election, Biden had said that Saudi Arabia should therefore be treated like a “pariah” state.