Biden administration efforts to get Iran to agree to a nuclear deal — including recent secret meetings in Oman — are unnerving Israelis and other allies in the region.
Iran might be just weeks or days away from enriching Uranium to enable it to build sizable nuclear weapons, if they have not already, a fact Israel has said is an unacceptable scenario.
"Our most important mission is to curb Iran's nuclear program," Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday.
"The most limited understandings, what are termed 'mini-agreements,' do not, in our view, serve the goal, and we are opposed to them as well."
From almost day one of the Biden administration, the State Department's top priority has been a full-court press with Tehran to revive the Obama-era nuclear deal known as the Joint Comprehension Plan of Action.
The JCPOA was reached under former President Obama and officially decertified under former President Donald Trump in May 2018.
But Biden sought to rework the deal as a way to stop an Iranian nuclear weapons program from reaching fruition.
As a result of the recent meetings between the U.S. and Iran in Oman, the Israelis believe the Biden administration has "a mini agreement" or "an understanding" with Tehran, sources told Axios last week.
Netanyahu said he will object to any new deal between the U.S. and Iran.
"We can't understand why the U.S. continues to badger Iran for a nuclear deal when it has ignored Biden for over two years, is close to building many bombs, and has been one of Russia's strongest allies against Ukraine," an Israeli diplomatic source told Newsmax.
The source also noted Israeli and U.S. intelligence firmly believe Iran continues efforts to assassinate U.S leaders, including former President Trump and former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.
In August 2022, the FBI uncovered a serious plot financed by Iran to kill Trump's former national security adviser John Bolton.
Israel believes there is little a deal will do to stop Iran from developing nuclear weapons.
A new deal will also have financial incentives for Tehran, which might only help expedite their efforts.
Reportedly, under the details of the new deal, Iran would commit to not enrich uranium above the 60% level in exchange for Biden to release billions of frozen Iranian funds and assets, including a prisoner exchange, according to several Israeli lawmakers who attended an Israeli Knesset meeting, Axios reported.
With Iran reportedly close to enriching uranium up to the 90% level needed for nuclear weapons, negotiations have reached a renewed vigor.
Biden publicly declared talks as "dead" in December, because Iran has been reportedly providing Russia with as many as 1,700 drones for its war in Ukraine. Also, The New York Times reported Iran is helping Russia build a war drone factory.
Added to the hostilities, Iran-backed terrorist groups in Syria and Lebanon are said to have tens of thousands of missiles capable of striking Israel. This missile capability is said to give Iran the ability to strike Israel if its nuclear facilities are attacked.
Some months ago it appeared Biden was moving away from efforts to rework the Iran nuclear deal due to Tehran's crackdown on protests, strong support for Russia's war in Ukraine, and its increasing of enrichment of uranium beyond the agreed-upon levels of the JCPOA.
"We're not focused on the Iran deal right now," the National Security Council's John Kirby told Newsmax White House correspondent James Rosen this past winter.
"Iran decided that they're not going to take the negotiations seriously and instead decided they're going to brutalize their own people and support Russia's war in Ukraine."
While Trump pulled out of the JCPOA, European nations remained steadfast that the agreement remain in place.