By: AP

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday that he opposes any interim agreement reportedly being negotiated between the U.S. and Iran over its nuclear program.

Netanyahu spoke after reports in Israeli media said understandings are being reached between Washington and Tehran that would seek to hold back Iran’s nuclear program somewhat, in exchange for some sanctions relief. The reports could not be independently confirmed and the U.S. has publicly denied any such deal.

Netanyahu said Israel had informed the U.S. that “the most limited understandings, what are termed ‘mini-agreements’, do not – in our view – serve the goal and we are opposed to them as well.”

Israeli officials believe some understandings have already been reached limiting enrichment and that some funds have already been unfrozen. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were discussing a confidential diplomatic assessment.

The Israeli news site Walla last week reported that under the emerging understandings Iran would limit its uranium enrichment to 60% in exchange for sanctions relief. The site also said the sides were discussing reciprocal prisoner releases.

State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said last week “there is no deal,” adding that the reports were untrue.

In its report, Walla said Netanyahu had revealed details of the agreement at a recent parliamentary committee meeting. The U.S. and Israel share intelligence and a prime focus of the countries’ interactions is Iran and its nuclear program.

Netanyahu vehemently opposed the 2015 deal between Iran and world powers brokered by the Obama administration that sought to rein in Iran’s nuclear program. He was a major supporter of President Donald Trump’s 2018 decision to withdraw from the deal, which left it in shambles.

Iran says its program is meant for civilian purposes. Israel considers a nuclear Iran as a major threat, citing its calls for Israel’s destruction and its support for anti-Israel militant groups across the region.

Israel says it does not rule out military action to prevent Iran from making a nuclear weapon.

In related developments, the AP reported on Friday that Saudi Arabia’s top diplomat was coming to visit Tehran, the latest step in the restoration of diplomatic ties between the two Mideast rivals, according to a statement from Iran.

The statement said Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan was planning to meet his Iranian counterpart, Hossein Amirabdollahian, on Saturday. Prince Faisal was also expected to officially inaugurate the kingdom’s embassy in Tehran.

Both nations resumed the work of their diplomatic missions in the other country in recent weeks.

The Iranian foreign minister’s visit comes after a visit to Saudi Arabia by the U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken earlier in June. In March, Iran and Saudi Arabia agreed to reestablish diplomatic relations and reopen embassies after seven years of tensions.

It was a major diplomatic breakthrough negotiated by China, lowering the chance of further conflict between Riyadh and Tehran — both directly and in proxy conflicts around the region.

Iran has been blamed for a series of attacks in recent years following the United States’ unilateral withdrawal from Tehran’s nuclear deal with world powers in 2018, including one targeting the heart of Saudi Arabia’s oil industry in 2019, temporarily halving the kingdom’s crude production.

Relations between the predominately Shiite Iran and the majority Sunni Saudi Arabia have long been tense. The kingdom broke ties with Iran in 2016 after protesters invaded Saudi diplomatic posts there.

(AP)