White House rebuffs Israeli request for Biden-Lapid call

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The White House recently rejected an Israeli request for an emergency phone call between Israeli occupation Prime Minister Yair Lapid and US President Joe Biden, Israeli media reported on Wednesday.

The development comes amid progress in the nuclear talks between Iran and major world powers in Vienna, which is giving rise to concerns in "Israel".

President Biden's office told "Tel Aviv" that the President was not available for an emergency phone call with Lapid because he is on vacation, Israeli Channel 13 reported, though it was said that the conversation would be arranged eventually.

The Israeli channel reported that Security Minister Benny Gantz would not meet with US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin when he goes to Washington on Thursday since Austin had already left the city.

The Israeli occupation's government last Thursday sent a message to the Biden administration saying the EU draft resolution on the Iran nuclear deal, which is being discussed with Iran, crosses the red lines set by the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).

"Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid conveyed a message to the White House today, in which he confirmed that the draft European Union agreement being discussed with Iran goes beyond the limits of the 2015 nuclear agreement, and does not comply with the red lines set by the Biden administration," an Israeli official told the Israeli Walla! newspaper at the time.

The European Union proposed easing sanctions on Iran's Islamic Revolution Guard Corps (IRGC) in order to revive the Iranian nuclear deal, formally known as the JCPOA, US media reported earlier in the month.

The proposal, brokered by EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell in coordination with US officials, is not seeking the suspension of sanctions against the IRGC but may "significantly limit their effectiveness."

"Tel Aviv" is highly concerned as the US and Iran are inching closer toward a deal that would relieve sanctions on Iran and impose certain restrictions on the country's nuclear program.

Iran announced Wednesday that it had received a response from the US to its proposals on a final EU draft on the revival of the 2015 accord, marking another step taken closer toward an agreement.

Gantz is scheduled to meet the head of the US military’s Central Command, which oversees operations in West Asia, and US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan. The Israeli Minister said Wednesday that his visit was aimed at conveying "Tel Aviv's" position on the deal.

Israeli National Security Advisor Eyal Hulata went to the US today for meetings with Biden administration officials. He met with Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman in Washington to discuss the strength of the bilateral ties while reflecting on President Joe Biden's trip to "Israel" last month. He is likely to meet Sullivan as well.

Lapid urged the US and the European Union to back away from the accord, claiming it did not meet Biden's own "red lines" as it would not prevent Iran from "becoming a nuclear state."

"In our eyes, it does not meet the standards set by President Biden himself: preventing Iran from becoming a nuclear state," Lapid said.

The agreement drew criticism even from former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who said the emerging accord was worse than its predecessor. "The terrible deal with Iran… casts a heavy shadow on our security and our future."

President Biden dismissed in April a demand from Iran for him to reverse a decision taken by the Trump administration in 2019 to label the IRGC a "terrorist organization". A group of US senators in May signed a resolution declaring that the US should not agree to any deal that would entail the lifting of sanctions on Iran.

An anonymous US official, however, underlined that the draft of the agreement proposed by Iran does not include their demand that the US lift the "terrorist" designation of the IRGC.

Major powers and Iran are holding talks in Vienna with the aim of reviving the 2015 nuclear agreement and returning the United States to it following Washington's unilateral withdrawal in 2018 under then-President Donald Trump, who accompanied his decision with the imposition of harsh sanctions on Tehran.

In response, Iran gradually withdrew from its commitments under the JCPOA, seeing that the agreement was no longer binding.

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