The US ambassador to Israel warned of the consequences of lifting sanctions on Iran and their impact on the recent normalization process with Arab countries. An official in the administration of President-elect Joe Biden ruled out returning to the nuclear agreement.
Washington's ambassador to Tel Aviv, David Friedman, said that the return of the new US administration to the nuclear agreement with Tehran would lead to the reversal of what he called the peace process between Israel and the UAE, Bahrain, Sudan and Morocco launched by US President Donald Trump.
He added - in an exclusive interview with "Israel Today" newspaper - that if sanctions are lifted on Tehran, this will bring the parties to normalization in the region back to square one, and it will be difficult to advance the peace process.
Far away
In turn, President-elect Joe Biden's candidate for director of national security, Avril Haines, said today, Tuesday, "We are a long way" from Iran's return to full compliance with the nuclear agreement.
She told members of Congress that Biden "indicated that if Iran returned to commitment, he would give his directives to do the same ... and I honestly believe that we are a long way from this."
For his part, the European Union’s foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, warned that the Iran nuclear deal is at a “critical juncture”.
"We have seen very worrying developments regarding the nuclear aspect, as well as new rounds of American sanctions," Borrell wrote in a letter to European foreign ministers.
"This threatens to undermine diplomatic efforts, including ours, to facilitate Washington's return to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action ... and return Iran to the full implementation of its obligations," added the letter, which he sent on Monday before a meeting of senior diplomats.
The European Union and other signatories of the agreement are seeking to persuade US President-elect Joe Biden to return to it after making efforts to preserve it, following Donald Trump's withdrawal from it more than two years ago.
European efforts are struggling to reconcile Iran with the United States after Trump reimposed tough sanctions and Iran responded in breach of treaty obligations.
Tehran has indicated its willingness to hold talks with Biden, who officially takes office tomorrow, Wednesday, and who in turn expressed his readiness to resume diplomacy with Tehran.
It is noteworthy that the three European countries involved in the agreement - Britain, France and Germany - called on Iran Saturday to halt plans to produce uranium metal, after Tehran informed the International Atomic Energy Agency that it is moving ahead with research on uranium production.