Israel expects the incoming Trump administration to take a hard line against Iran and its nuclear ambitions, which will create an opportunity for more peace deals with Arab neighbors, a senior member of Israel's security cabinet said.
Energy Minister Eli Cohen said that incoming US President Donald Trump has been appointing senior staff who "certainly support determined action against Iran".
"The period of Trump's previous administration was characterized by greater regional stability," he said. "Towards the end of his presidency, the sanctions on Iran were close to making Iran to change its behavior on the nuclear issue."
"So we certainly hope and believe that the Trump administration's policy will continue that, and first and foremost, we see the most central issue is acting assertively against Iran," Reuters reported.
During his campaign, Trump said that President Joe Biden's policy of not rigorously enforcing oil export sanctions has weakened Washington and emboldened Tehran, allowing it to sell oil, accumulate cash and expand its nuclear pursuits and influence through armed militias.
Trump has tapped US Senator Marco Rubio, an advocate of muscular foreign policy on Iran, for secretary of state. Mike Waltz, who is slated to become national security adviser, has also pushed for a tougher stance.
"We think he (Trump) is targeting the bottom line. To rein in the threatening actors and create new regional alliances that are very important," Cohen said.
NUCLEAR DISPUTE
In 2018, as president and with support from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Trump withdrew from a multi-national deal aimed at preventing Iran from building a nuclear bomb. Washington then reimposed sanctions to force Tehran into talks on a broader agreement addressing its missiles and support for regional proxies.
Iran denies ever having a nuclear weapons program, though Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei has said that if it wanted to world leaders "wouldn't be able to stop us".
Israel is widely believed to have a nuclear arsenal but has never confirmed nor denied this, maintaining a policy of ambiguity on the issue for decades.
