Israeli Envoy Implores Biden to Forego Iran Deal

Israel’s Ambassador to the United States Ron Dermer on Monday urged President-elect Joe Biden to continue the outgoing administration’s efforts to broker peace between Israel and Arab states instead of pushing for a rapprochement with Iran. In a panel alongside his Emirati and Bahraini counterparts, Dermer called on the new administration to “sit with your allies in the region. Talk to us in order to get to a common position on Iran. Not only on the nuclear issue but also about the Iranian aggression in the region.” Biden repeatedly has signaled he would look to renegotiate and eventually re-enter the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, the nuclear deal Iran signed with the five permanent United Nations Security Council members and Germany, from which President Donald Trump withdrew in 2018. The incoming president also promised his new pact would build on and improve the one approved by former President Barack Obama. Since the US’s withdrawal, Iran has stepped up its efforts to achieve a nuclear weapon, with the UN’s atomic energy agency warning last week that the country was closer than ever to its goal.