The Israeli ambassador to Washington and the United Nations, Gilad Erdan, suggested that the ongoing discussions on the Iranian nuclear file would result in a new agreement between the United States and Iran within weeks.
The Yediot Aharonot newspaper reported statements by Erdan in which he said that US officials revealed to Tel Aviv the difficulties they face in negotiations with Iran, and explained that Israel's estimates indicate that the two sides will reach an understanding in the coming weeks.
He added that Israel believes that returning to the nuclear agreement - which he described as bad - is a big mistake, as he put it.
Erdan's statements - which he made to the Israeli Army Radio - came after talks held by the head of the Israeli National Security Council, Meir Ben Shabat, on Wednesday in Washington, with US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan.
"It was agreed that each of the two countries would act transparently and not surprise each other," Erdan said.
"The American administration will continue to observe Israel's freedom to act against the Iranian threat," he added.
The Israeli ambassador considered that "the expected nuclear agreement will not prevent Tehran from acquiring a nuclear weapon. Rather, it will lead to the lifting of most of its sanctions within several years."
However, he said, "Israel is committed to preventing this."
Extensive US-Israeli contacts are currently taking place on international negotiations with Iran in Vienna.
And recently, negotiations were launched in Vienna to revive the "nuclear agreement" between Iran, the United States, Britain, France, China, Russia and Germany, after the withdrawal of former US President Donald Trump's administration from it in 2018, and the imposition of economic sanctions on Tehran.
Yesterday, the US website Axios quoted a high-ranking Israeli official aside from what the Israeli delegation agreed to during its talks with the US National Security Adviser.
The site reported that the two sides agreed to neutralize their differences on the nuclear deal from the rest of the files, including cooperation in other issues related to Iran.
He stressed that the Israeli team told Sullivan that returning to the nuclear deal with Iran would reduce the chances of reaching a longer and stronger agreement.
He indicated that the Israeli team was concerned about how the meeting with US officials would proceed, but was very satisfied with the way things went.
Sullivan affirmed that US President Joe Biden "supports Israel's right to defend itself."