National Security Adviser Meir Ben-Shabbat is set to depart for Washington to meet with his American counterpart Jake Sullivan in the coming days.
Follow Israel Hayom on Facebook and Twitter
Israel Hayom has learned that the meeting, to be held at the Israeli Embassy, will be a very short one, lasting just a few hours. Ben-Shabbat is set to return to Israel immediately after.
Ben-Shabbat and Sullivan have held several virtual meetings on Iran over the past few months. The upcoming meeting appears to be aimed at sharing physical information that cannot be relayed online.
Mossad intelligence agency director Yossi Cohen is also set to fly to Washington to meet with CIA head William Burns and other senior officials in the US intelligence community this week.
Both Israeli officials hope to either put a stop to efforts to restore the Iran nuclear deal or minimize the damage such a move would have.
On Thursday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu convened a meeting to consolidate an Israeli strategy on Iran's nuclear program given the progress being made among signatories to the deal in talks in Vienna.
According to the official, should Iran engage in serious talks on an improved accord, Israel would share its position on what such an accord should look like. The official further noted that at the meeting, Netanyahu emphasized that Israel was not a signatory to the accord and as such was not committed to it.
Another official told Israel Hayom that in addition to the opposition in principle to the Iran nuclear deal, the Israeli representatives were expected to present their US counterparts with some key recommendations, among them that Washington should avoid the full rollback of sanctions it has planned. Israel's position is that if sanctions are to be removed, this should be done gradually with one American sanction lifted in return for the cessation of one Iranian violation.
Israeli officials will also recommend the use of "anytime, anywhere" inspections of its nuclear facilities. According to the 2015 accord, Tehran has three weeks from the moment suspicions of a violation are raised until international inspectors are allowed to investigate a site in person. To prevent the Iranians from covering up evidence, Israel wants the Americans to add a clause to the accord allowing inspectors access to nuclear sites without advanced notice.
IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Aviv Kochavi had also been set to join the Israeli officials but will remain in the country given the recent riots in Jerusalem.
Subscribe to Israel Hayom's daily newsletter and never miss our top stories!
