Mossad chief: Israel won't remain silent while Iran deceives the world

 As part of Israeli efforts to prevent a revived nuclear deal with Iran, Mossad chief David Barnea concluded his trip to Washington on Thursday. He had been there for high-level negotiations with US officials.

The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley, FBI Director Christopher Wray, National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan, US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, and senior State Department officials were among those with whom Barnea reportedly spoke, according to the Prime Minister's Office.

According to a statement from the Prime Minister's Office, Barnea, who left for the US on Monday, underscored that "Israel will not be able to stand idly by while Iran continues to deceive the world" and showed the officials "important intelligence materials."

The statement also stated that "the Mossad director learned from his colleagues that the US remains dedicated to the security of the State of Israel."

"The Americans stressed that they will not permit Iran to acquire a nuclear weapon and that they will continue to work in full collaboration with the State of Israel over regional concerns in the Middle East pertaining to the security of the State of Israel."

According to the spokesperson, any potential attempt to link the talks to the Iran nuclear deal has been preempted by saying, "Director Barnea has long had a pre-scheduled visit for this time," according to The Times of Israel.

The two also talked about "a variety of global and regional concerns," he continued.

The statement continued, "We appreciate our close talks, as usual, with him and other senior Israeli officials."

In recent weeks, as the parties appeared to be close to an agreement, Israeli officials have increased contacts with their American and European colleagues to voice their opinions on a potential revival of the Iran nuclear deal.

The negotiations, however, appear to have stalled over the past week as Iran made several demands that were rejected by the US and the EU. In recent negotiations, US officials, including President Joe Biden, told Prime Minister Yair Lapid that the restoration of the agreement is currently off the table, according to Zman Yisrael, a sister website of The Times of Israel.

The US has been under pressure from Israel not to rejoin the 2015 nuclear agreement. The so-called sunset clause, which would lift restrictions on Iran's nuclear program when the agreement expires, and sanctions relief, which would allow Iran to increase funding to its proxies, were the two main concerns Israel had with the potential deal, according to a senior defense official last month.

When Donald Trump took office in 2018, he abandoned the agreement and imposed a flurry of new sanctions on the cleric-run nation. Biden came into office with the goal of reviving the agreement.

Biden stated in July that he would be ready to use force if necessary to stop Iran from gaining a nuclear weapon. In the meantime, Israel has pressed the US to prepare a military option against Iran.

Israel has long opposed the agreement, claiming that Iran wants to develop a nuclear weapon. It has also made public information it claims indicates the Iranian weapons program. Although it has recently begun enriching uranium to levels that international authorities allege have no civil use, Iran has denied having any evil intents and insists that its program is created for peaceful purposes.