Eli Cohen is meeting with the Czech president and foreign minister on Tuesday.

By: JNS

Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen was in Prague on Tuesday for meetings with Czech leaders to discuss countering the Iranian nuclear threat among other topics.

The central European country currently heads the International Atomic Energy Agency’s Board of Governors, with Ambassador Ivo Sramek occupying the position for 2022-2023.

“I will meet with the president and the foreign minister to strengthen the ties between the countries and to discuss the fight against Iran and repel the terrorist arms of Iran,” Cohen said upon his arrival on Monday to the capital of the Czech Republic, a longtime ally of Israel.

In addition to meeting with Czech President Petr Pavel and Foreign Minister Jan Lipavsky, Cohen is scheduled to meet business leaders in Prague before flying back to Israel on Wednesday ahead of the evening start of the Jewish holiday of Passover.

The Israeli Foreign Ministry said in a statement ahead of the trip that discussions would include increasing bilateral collaboration in the areas of security, trade and climate.

Pavel, a former army general, was sworn in last month. He succeeded Milos Zeman as president of the Czech Republic. Upon his swearing in, the American Jewish Committee’s Central Europe office congratulated him, saying that he is “dedicated towards a strong transatlantic alliance and European values.”

He visited Israel in 2017 as chairman of NATO’s military committee.

Cohen’s visit to discuss Iran comes amid reported talks in recent weeks between the United States, its European allies and Israel about an interim nuclear deal with Tehran proposed by the Biden administration. Axios reported that the interim agreement would include sanctions relief for Iran halting parts of its nuclear program.

Last month, IAEA inspectors discovered uranium particles enriched to 83.7% purity at the Fordow Fuel Enrichment Plant, which qualifies as weapons grade.

In somewhat related news, WIN reported on Tuesday that the Biden administration has been working on an interim agreement with Iran that would involve some sanctions relief in exchange for partial freezing of the Islamic Republic’s nuclear program, Axios reported Monday evening.

The administration began discussing the proposal with its European and Israeli partners already in January, according to 10 Israeli officials, Western diplomats and U.S. experts, the report said.

According to an Israeli official and a Western diplomat, the report continued, the Iranians have so far rejected the idea.

Last month, inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency found uranium particles enriched up to 83.7% in Iran’s underground Fordo nuclear site. Uranium at nearly 84% is almost at weapons-grade levels of 90% — meaning any stockpile of that material could be quickly used to produce an atomic bomb if Iran chooses.

“To the best of our knowledge, we don’t believe that the supreme leader in Iran has yet made a decision to resume the weaponization program that we judge they suspended or stopped at the end of 2003,” CIA Director Williams Burns told CBS’ “Face the Nation” program regarding the nuclear watchdog’s finding. “But the other two legs of the stool, meaning enrichment programs, they’ve obviously advanced very far,” he added.

Israel has reportedly warned the U.S. and European leaders that Iran’s stockpiling of uranium beyond 60% would be crossing a red line and could trigger a military response. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said that Iran is his main focus; despite the ongoing protests and unrest in Israel over the government’s agenda for judicial reform, he has been meeting with European leaders to gain support on this issue.

Netanyahu recently traveled to Rome, London and Paris to discuss the Iranian nuclear threat.

(WorldIsraelNews.com)