WASHINGTON – Israeli National Security Adviser-designate Dr. Eyal Hulata and Foreign Policy Adviser to the Prime Minister Shimrit Meir met on Tuesday with Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman, as part of a series of meetings that the two are holding in Washington.According to a State Department press release, the three discussed regional issues, including Iran.
“They also discussed concerns regarding the attack on the Mercer Street vessel,” the statement read.
According to the State Department, Sherman “emphasized the strong partnership between the United States and Israel, US support for the normalization agreements between Israel and countries in the Arab and Muslim world, as well as the US government’s unwavering support for Israel’s security.”
They also discussed “the need to take steps related to the Palestinian people that are critical to advancing freedom, security and prosperity for all.”
Earlier on Tuesday, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki addressed a question about an incident in which Iranian-backed forces were believed to have seized an oil tanker in the Gulf off the coast of the United Arab Emirates.
“We’re monitoring this developing situation, and we are in close touch with London and other partners around the world who are also monitoring,” she said. “The first reports are deeply concerning. We are fully engaged, and will be, as the situation is developing.
“Every single challenge and threat we face from Iran would be made more pronounced and dangerous by an unconstrained nuclear program that continues,” she said.
“We would not anticipate that we would solve every concern we have about their behavior in the world, but we believe that having greater visibility into their nuclear capacity and capabilities would be in our national interest, in the interests of many of our partners – and certainly, we would hope we could build from there,” Psaki said. “We are fully prepared to return to Vienna to continue negotiations and hope that there’s an opportunity to do that.”