Israel Tells US It Has "Serious Reservations" About Iran Nuclear Deal

Antony Blinken told Yair Lapid that Washington would remain in close contact with Israel over the Iran negotiations, officials said.

Israel has serious reservations about the Iran nuclear deal being put together in Vienna, new foreign minister Yair Lapid told his American counterpart, as he pledged to fix "the mistakes made" in U.S.-Israeli relations in recent years. In their first face-to-face meeting since Israel's new government was sworn in two weeks ago, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Lapid had a very positive, very warm discussion, according to U.S. officials. The main topics were the nuclear deal and Israel's normalisation accords with Gulf Arab states, as well as humanitarian aid to Gaza and the status of East Jerusalem, a topic that helped fuel the latest wave of violence between the Israelis and Palestinians in May. "Israel has some serious reservations about the Iran nuclear deal that is being put together in Vienna. We believe the way to discuss those disagreements is through direct and professional conversations, not in press conferences," Lapid said in brief remarks ahead of the meeting in Rome.