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Israeli Delegation to Visit the US Sunday to Discuss Iran Sanctions

Israeli Chief of Staff Aviv Kochavi speaks at a memorial ceremony on Jerusalem's Mount Herzl national cemetery on April 11, 2021.
Israeli Chief of Staff Aviv Kochavi speaks at a memorial ceremony on Jerusalem's Mount Herzl national cemetery on April 11, 2021.
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Israeli Delegation to Visit the US Sunday to Discuss Iran Sanctions

Israeli Chief of Staff Aviv Kochavi speaks at a memorial ceremony on Jerusalem's Mount Herzl national cemetery on April 11, 2021.
Israeli Chief of Staff Aviv Kochavi speaks at a memorial ceremony on Jerusalem's Mount Herzl national cemetery on April 11, 2021.

Senior Israeli intelligence and military officials are expected to travel to Washington on Sunday for talks with US officials on the Iranian danger and the potential harm in returning to the 2015 nuclear deal with Tehran.

An Israeli security official said Friday that the trip aims to limit tension between Israel and the administration of Joe Biden on Iran’s nuclear program.

He said the Israeli delegation would request from Washington some amendments when discussing a deal with Iran, mainly not to lift all sanctions.

Israel also wants the US to include a clause in the new deal that will allow inspectors to visit Iranian nuclear sites without prior warning.

Political sources said that due to disputes in Tel Aviv between Netanyahu and the military leadership, a decision was taken to divide the Israeli delegation to Washington into two independent groups.

The military delegation shall include army chief of staff Lt. Gen. Aviv Kochavi, Mossad head Yossi Cohen and the army’s military intelligence directorate head, Maj. Gen. Tamir Haymen.

A political delegation including Israeli National Security Advisor Meir Ben Shabbat and Ambassador of Israel to the US Gilad Erdan is expected to arrive in Washington on Monday to launch an international campaign against Iran’s policies and its plans to dominate the Middle East.

The sources said the military delegation is scheduled to meet with a number of top US defense officials, including Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley, head of the US Central Command Kenneth McKenzie, and head of the US Special Operations Command Richard Clark.

The Israeli news site Walla quoted a security official as saying that the timing of Kochavi’s visit to Washington is extremely important because an agreement between the US and Iran could be signed in a week.

“Therefore, this is our last endeavor to reveal to the US administration the military situation in the Middle East and the repercussions such deal would have on the region,” the news site said.

The official confirmed that in Washington, the Kochavi delegation’s discussions would focus on the nuclear deal and Iran’s role in the Middle East, especially in Syria and Lebanon.

Kochavi will give sensitive information about the nuclear deal, in addition to Hezbollah’s efforts to improve the precision of its missiles and the current cooperation between the Lebanese party and other organizations, he added.

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US Says Deal with Beijing Will Expedite Rare Earth Exports from China

A sample of samarium (Sm) is displayed at the Laboratory of Physics and Material studies (LPEM) in Paris, France, June 23, 2025. (Reuters)
A sample of samarium (Sm) is displayed at the Laboratory of Physics and Material studies (LPEM) in Paris, France, June 23, 2025. (Reuters)
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US Says Deal with Beijing Will Expedite Rare Earth Exports from China

A sample of samarium (Sm) is displayed at the Laboratory of Physics and Material studies (LPEM) in Paris, France, June 23, 2025. (Reuters)
A sample of samarium (Sm) is displayed at the Laboratory of Physics and Material studies (LPEM) in Paris, France, June 23, 2025. (Reuters)

The United States has reached an agreement with China on how to expedite rare earth shipments to the US, a White House official said on Thursday, amid efforts to end a trade war between the world's biggest economies. 

President Donald Trump earlier said the United States had signed a deal with China on Wednesday, without providing additional details, and that there might be a separate deal coming up that would "open up" India. 

During US-China trade talks in May in Geneva, Beijing committed to removing non-tariff countermeasures imposed against the United States since April 2, although it was unclear how some of those measures would be walked back. 

As part of its retaliation against new US tariffs, China suspended exports of a wide range of critical minerals and magnets, upending the supply chains central to automakers, aerospace manufacturers, semiconductor companies and military contractors around the world. 

"The administration and China agreed to an additional understanding for a framework to implement the Geneva agreement," a White House official said on Thursday. 

The understanding is "about how we can implement expediting rare earths shipments to the US again", the official said. 

A separate administration official said the US-China agreement took place earlier this week. 

US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick was quoted as saying by Bloomberg: "They’re going to deliver rare earths to us" and once they do that "we'll take down our countermeasures." 

China's embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to a request for comment. 

While the agreement shows potential progress following months of trade uncertainty and disruption since Trump took office in January, it also underscores the long road ahead to a final, definitive trade deal between the two economic rivals. 

China has been taking its dual-use restrictions on rare earths "very seriously" and has been vetting buyers to ensure that materials are not diverted to US military uses, according to an industry source. This has slowed down the licensing process. 

The Geneva deal had faltered over China's curbs on critical minerals exports, prompting the Trump administration to respond with export controls of its own preventing shipments of semiconductor design software, aircraft and other goods to China. 

In early June, Reuters reported China had granted temporary export licenses to rare-earth suppliers of the top three US automakers, according to two sources familiar with the matter, as supply chain disruptions began to surface from export curbs on those materials. 

Later in the month, Trump said there was a deal with China in which Beijing would supply magnets and rare earth minerals while the US would allow Chinese students in its colleges and universities.