Israel Convenes ‘Strategic Dialogue’ on Iran Threat in DC

July 15, 2024

by: JNS

Monday, 15 July 2024 | Israeli National Security Adviser Tzachi Hanegbi and Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer will hold high-level meetings on the Iranian threat at the White House this week, the Prime Minister’s Office in Jerusalem confirmed on Saturday night.

The US–Israel Strategic Consultative Group (SCG) has not convened since March 2023, most recently having been postponed after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused the Biden administration of withholding arms from Jerusalem amid Israel’s ongoing war against Hamas in Gaza.

The “strategic dialogue” is led on the US side by National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan and includes officials from the State Department, Pentagon and intelligence agencies.

The development comes amid growing concern in Israel over Iran’s efforts to weaponize components of its nuclear program.

Late last month, Axios reported that Jerusalem was reestablishing working groups in various government bodies to discuss the Iran nuclear threat after they were frozen some 18 months ago.

The initiative, overseen by Hanegbi, restarts six groups in the Mossad [Israeli intelligence agency], the Israel Security Agency [ISA] and in the intelligence and cyber fields, according to the report. The Mossad groups will focus on the nuclear program and weaponization, while the ISA will focus on combating Iranian influence campaigns in Israel. The other teams will combat cyber threats vis-à-vis Hezbollah and the Houthis.

The International Atomic Energy Agency’s [IAEA] latest report showed Iran holding 30 times the stockpile of uranium allowed under the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), commonly known as the Iran nuclear deal, and has enriched it to near weapons grade.

The Washington Post recently reported that an expansion underway at Iran’s Fordow enrichment plant could allow the regime to accumulate several bombs’ worth of nuclear fuel every month.

After a leaked draft of the plan was reported by Reuters on June 13, US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller charged the Islamic Republic with “expanding its nuclear program in ways that have no credible peaceful purpose” and vowed to “respond accordingly.”

Iran’s stockpile of 60%-enriched uranium has increased by 20.6 kilograms [45.5 lb.] since February, AFP reported on May 27, citing an IAEA report. The confidential document, which was also seen by the Associated Press, revealed that Tehran had accumulated 142.1 kilograms [313.2 lb.] of uranium enriched up to 60%. This level of enrichment is just a technical step from 90% enrichment, considered weapons grade.

According to the IAEA definition, it is technically possible to create an atomic bomb with roughly 42 kilograms [92.5 lb.] of uranium enriched to 60% if the material is further enriched to 90%.

Last week, Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz urged the international community to increase the pressure on the mullahs in Iran, after Masoud Pezeshkian won the Islamic Republic’s second-round presidential vote

“The people of Iran have sent a clear message of demand for change and opposition to the ayatollah [honorary title bestowed on high-ranking Shiite Muslim clerics in Iran] regime through the elections,” said Katz.

“Now the world must designate the [Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps] as a terrorist organization and demand the cancellation of the nuclear program and the cessation of support for terrorist organizations. This is the only chance to realize the change,” he added.

Pezeshkian, a former heart surgeon born in 1954 to an Iranian Azerbaijani father and Iranian Kurdish mother, said that he would “try to have friendly relations with all countries except Israel.”

He is not expected to produce any major policy shift in Tehran’s nuclear program or support for Hamas in Gaza, Hezbollah in Lebanon, the Houthis in Yemen or the various militias in Iraq and Syria.

On Tuesday, Katz called for action against Iran in meetings with international leaders at the opening of the NATO summit in Washington. The minister met with his US counterpart Antony Blinken, US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock, Canadian Foreign Minister Mélanie Joly and Czech Foreign Minister Jan Lipavský, among others.

“Our enemy is also your enemy. The Iranian missiles and UAVs [unmanned aerial vehicles] that threaten us are being sent to Russia and threaten you too. Crippling sanctions must be imposed on Iran and the [Islamic] Revolutionary Guards must be declared a terrorist organization,” said Katz.

Posted on July 15, 2024

Source: (This article was originally published by the Jewish News Syndicate on July 12, 2024. Time-related language has been modified to reflect our republication today. See original article at this link.)

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