USA

U.S., Israel Affirm Security Pact

FILE: President Joe Biden, center, Israeli President Isaac Herzog, left, and Israeli Prime Minister Isaac Herzog, walk during a welcoming ceremony after Biden arrived at Ben Gurion Airport, near Tel Aviv, Israel, Wednesday, 7.13.2022

US President Joe Biden and Israel's Prime Minister Yair Lapid are forging a security pact Thursday affirming their united front against Iran, after holding bilateral talks in Jerusalem.

A US official told reporters the agreed declaration marked a "significant" pledge on joint security.

"It includes a commitment to never allow Iran to acquire a nuclear weapon and to address Iran's destabilizing activities, particularly threats to Israel," said a Biden administration official, requesting anonymity.

According to the US official, the security declaration would reaffirm "unbreakable bonds between our countries and expanding on the long standing security relationship between the United States and Israel".

An Israeli official, also speaking on condition of anonymity, said the document was "going to be a living testimony to the unique quality, health, scope, depth and intimacy of the US-Israel relationship."

Iran was "closer to a nuclear weapon now than they were before", the US president said in an interview aired Wednesday by Israel's Channel 12.

The US will not wait indefinitely for Iran to meet terms set by Washington to revive a 2015 agreement on Tehran's nuclear program, President Joe Biden said in Jerusalem on Thursday.

Asked how long the United States was prepared to give diplomatic efforts, Biden said his administration had set out terms required for the deal to be restored and, "we're not going to wait forever" for Tehran to respond.

Asked whether the United States would use force to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons, Biden said: "If that was the last resort, yes."

Israel is staunchly opposed to a nuclear deal Iran signed with world powers in 2015 and which Biden is trying to get back on track after his predecessor Donald Trump withdrew from the accord.

However, Biden said pulling out of the landmark agreement was a "gigantic mistake."

Biden on Wednesday addressed the Israeli-Palestinian conflict by renewing Washington's long-standing call for a two-state solution, but he has not reversed Trump's controversial decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel's capital.

The American leader is due to meet Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas on Friday in Bethlehem, in the occupied West Bank, and pledge US financial support.

The US official said that would include "a significant funding package" for hospitals that serve Palestinians in Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem, which Palestinians claim as their future capital.

The US official said that would include "a significant funding package" for hospitals that serve Palestinians in Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem, which Palestinians claim as their future capital.

Russia's invasion of Ukraine will remain a top priority for the Biden administration during his regional tour, with volatile oil prices due to be the focus of talks with Saudi officials.

The president will seek to persuade Saudi Arabia to pump more oil in order to drive down prices, which have fuelled US inflation to the highest levels in decades.