State Department: We have ‘tactical differences’ with Israel on Iran

(A7) US State Department spokesperson Ned Price told reporters on Thursday that the United States has “tactical differences” with Israel on Iran, but no strategic disagreement, Reuters reported.

Price also said that “a small number of outstanding issues” remain in nuclear talks with Iran, adding that the onus is on Tehran to make those decisions.

US Ambassador to Israel Tom Nides told Channel 12 News in an interview on Thursday that if a nuclear deal is reached with Iran, “the Israelis’ hands are not tied. If we don’t have a deal, Israel’s hands are certainly not tied.”

He stressed that “Israel can do and take whatever actions they need to take to protect the State of Israel.”

Iran has gradually scaled back its compliance with the 2015 deal it signed with world powers, in response to former US President Donald Trump’s withdrawal from the agreement in May of 2018, but has held several rounds of indirect talks with the US on a return to the agreement.

Negotiations nearly reached completion earlier this month before Moscow demanded that its trade with Iran be exempted from Western sanctions over Ukraine, throwing the process into disarray.

EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell estimated late last week that a new deal on Iran’s nuclear program would be sealed within days.

Price said last week that Washington has a “Plan B” if a nuclear deal with Iran is not reached.

“The onus is on Tehran to make decisions that it might consider difficult,” Price told reporters.