BICOM

An Israeli team of intelligence and security officials headed by National Security Advisor Yossi Cohen is set to meet today in Washington with United States officials, headed by Susan Rice to discuss a final agreement regarding Iran’s nuclear development.

The meeting, which Maariv says will stretch throughout the day, was planned by US President Obama and Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the wake of last month’s interim deal in Geneva between the P5+1 powers (US, UK, France, Russia, China and Germany) and Iran. Netanyahu made his dissatisfaction with the deal well known, especially as it does not require Iran to dismantle any of its centrifuges. However, he told the Knesset that following a conversation with President Obama, Cohen would travel to Washington “for talks with the United States on the final deal with Iran,” which he said must “bring about one outcome: the dismantling of Iran’s military nuclear capability.”

Talks on a final deal are expected to begin next month and today’s meeting is a first step towards coordinating Israeli and American positions ahead of the negotiations. Maariv says Cohen will outline Israel’s expectations from such an agreement, including the total neutralisation of Iran’s enrichment facilities, such as the closure of the Fordow and Qom plants and the dismantling of the Arak plutonium reactor. The same report suggests Cohen will raise issues which were not discussed in Geneva, such as Iran’s missile programme and the country’s testing system for nuclear warheads, which has been highlighted by the International Atomic Energy Agency but was not addressed during last month’s talks. Yediot Ahronot this morning says Cohen will also express concerns over the extent of the sanctions relief granted to Iran as part of the interim agreement.

Meanwhile, US Secretary of State John Kerry yesterday told a forum in Washington that “the next six months [of negotiations with Iran] will be harder than this first step” taken in Geneva.