Israel-US Talks to Begin as Iran’s Nuclear Program Approaches the ‘Red Line’

Missile defenses during a military exercise at an undisclosed location in Iran on February 28 (Reuters)
Missile defenses during a military exercise at an undisclosed location in Iran on February 28 (Reuters)
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Israel-US Talks to Begin as Iran’s Nuclear Program Approaches the ‘Red Line’

Missile defenses during a military exercise at an undisclosed location in Iran on February 28 (Reuters)
Missile defenses during a military exercise at an undisclosed location in Iran on February 28 (Reuters)

Tel Aviv and Washington have decided to kickstart deep talks on Iran’s enrichment of uranium to 84%, which is close to what is needed for developing a bomb. A senior delegation from the Israeli government will travel to the US capital next week to meet with officials from the White House, the Pentagon, and the State Department.

The Israeli delegation will include Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer and National Security Council chief Tzachi Hanegbi.

Dermer and Hanegbi are expected to meet with US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan, Secretary of State Antony Blinken, political sources reported.

According to the Tel Aviv-based Walla! News, the visit will precede a visit by US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin to Israel next week to continue such talks.

Austin will arrive in Tel Aviv at the end of next week. He is expected to meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, and President Isaac Herzog.

The meetings will cover various major issues, including cooperation, regional developments, and the situation in the Palestinian arena, but the central issue will be Iran’s nuclear program, reported Walla! News.

A probe by the UN’s nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), into Iran’s nuclear activities found particles of 83.7%-enriched uranium, the highest level of enrichment ever achieved by the cleric-led country.

The IAEA said that it will be discussing the enriched uranium with Tehran.

Netanyahu spoke with several state leaders and stressed that Israel considers Iran enriching uranium to 90% a red line.

The prime minister and other Israeli officials have stressed in recent weeks that presenting a credible military threat is necessary to stop Iran from threatening regional and global security.

For his part, US Under Secretary of Defense Colin Kahl said Tuesday that Tehran can enrich a sufficient amount of uranium in 12 days to a level of 90 % – the level of enrichment needed to produce a crude nuclear weapon.



Türkiye Aims to Meet Somalia, Ethiopia Separately Before New Mediation Talks

A Turkish flag with the Bosphorus Bridge in the background, flies on a passenger ferry in Istanbul, Türkiye September 30, 2020. (Reuters)
A Turkish flag with the Bosphorus Bridge in the background, flies on a passenger ferry in Istanbul, Türkiye September 30, 2020. (Reuters)
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Türkiye Aims to Meet Somalia, Ethiopia Separately Before New Mediation Talks

A Turkish flag with the Bosphorus Bridge in the background, flies on a passenger ferry in Istanbul, Türkiye September 30, 2020. (Reuters)
A Turkish flag with the Bosphorus Bridge in the background, flies on a passenger ferry in Istanbul, Türkiye September 30, 2020. (Reuters)

Türkiye aims to meet separately with Somalia and Ethiopia as part of its efforts to resolve a dispute between the sides over a deal that Ethiopia agreed to lease a stretch of coastline from Somaliland, Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said on Thursday.
Türkiye has so far hosted two rounds of meetings between the East African neighbors in an attempt to repair their relations. A third round of talks that had initially been set to take place in Ankara on Tuesday was canceled.
Relations nosedived in January when Ethiopia agreed to lease 20 km (12 miles) of coastline from the breakaway Somaliland region in exchange for recognizing its independence. Mogadishu called the agreement illegal and retaliated by expelling the Ethiopian ambassador and threatening to kick out thousands of Ethiopian troops stationed in the country helping battle insurgents.
Speaking to the state-owned Anadolu news agency, Fidan said Türkiye was continuing to engage with Somalia and Ethiopia at the ministerial and head of state level, and added he was hopeful of finding a solution since the parties had "converged to a certain point" as part of the Ankara talks.
"Rather than bringing the same sides here for direct talks - and they don't meet directly anyway, they meet us - we have the aim of establishing one-on-one contact to converge positions and later bring the sides together when their positions reach a totally common point," Fidan said, adding there were "lessons" learned from the first two rounds of talks.