i24 News – Washington will “never seek to prevent Israel from protecting itself against Iran,” US Ambassador to Israel Thomas Nides said today at a press conference in Yerushalayim.
Tensions are escalating between regional rivals Israel and Iran as recent developments hinted at the possibility of military action.
Nides claimed that President Joe Biden assured his Israeli counterpart Yair Lapid during their conversation last week that the United States “will never allow Iran to obtain a nuclear weapon.”
He added that Biden promised Lapid that Washington would “never tie Israel’s hands. We know Iran is a threat.”
Last week, Boeing signed a contract for the supply of four advanced refueling aircraft to the Israeli Air Force, which could be used for possible strikes against Iran.
Days later, a senior Iranian defense official said Iran equipped 51 locales with civil defense systems to thwart any possible foreign attack.
Tensions are also continuing to strain between Iran and the US as talks to salvage the 2015 nuclear deal between Tehran and world powers seem stuck at draft proposals.
Tehran has yet to receive an official response from Washington to its latest proposal admitted last week, Iranian Foreign Affairs Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanani said.
“Iran is waiting to receive the response from the other parties, and in particular from the American government,” he said during his weekly press conference in Tehran.
Israeli security officials believe that the revival of the nuclear deal is still likely despite the latest setback in last-ditch talks. However, an unnamed European official said Iran’s latest response to an American draft proposal was so “unreasonable” that it likely shows that the mullah regime has no interest in finalizing the accord.
“‘The US Will Never Tie Israel’s Hands’ Against Iran, Says US [Ambassador to Israel Thomas Nides.”
When asked if the Biden administration might tape Israel’s hands together with extra strong, unbreakable duct tape, without actually tying the hands, or whether the administration would immobilize Israel’s hands with a straight jacket, Mr. Nides refused to answer the question, other than to say, “That’s a whole different ball game, and I’d rather not answer that question if I don’t have to.”