“We have expressed our position that going back to the old agreement is not the right thing to do,” Erdan told the Post, at the side lines of an Earth Day celebration at the UAE Embassy. “When the administration talks about a ‘longer and stronger deal,’ they imply that the old agreement was flawed,” he said.
“Now, the question is how you make a better deal,” he said. “We are holding a series of in-depth conversations with the administration in order to reach a joint position about the next steps. When it comes to a return to the original agreement – as we said – we believe that it decreases the chances of making a better deal in the future, but the discussions are still ongoing.”
Erdan’s remarks come as a high-level Israeli delegation is expected to arrive in Washington early next week to discuss Iran policy with the Biden administration. IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Aviv Kohavi, Mossad Chief Yossi Cohen and National Security Adviser Meir Ben-Shabbat will arrive together with additional senior IDF officials. They will meet with their peers, including US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan.
Rep. Ted Deutch (D-Florida), chairman of the Subcommittee on the Middle East, North Africa and Global Counterterrorism on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, who also attended the event, told the Post: “The administration has been clear that the goal is not to reenter the agreement. The ultimate goal is to ensure that Iran never develops nuclear weapons capability and it is to lengthen and strengthen and broaden the existing deal.
“At this moment, the focus, of course, has to be on Iran’s dangerous behavior, their decision to enrich [uranium] well beyond what’s permitted in the deal, and the obligation that they come back into compliance before there is anything that the United States should do to address these other issues,” said Deutch.
“We need to be firm with the Iranians; they need to go back to the terms of the deal,” he said. “And then the administration has to be clear about how we’re going to lengthen and strengthen it to address the shortfalls that many of us have raised initially.”
“Warmer relations will help get us to a cooler planet,” said Yousef Al Otaiba, the UAE’s ambassador to the US, who hosted the event. “Normalization is already accelerating climate cooperation between the UAE and Israel. These efforts in innovation, promotion and finance will help deliver the benefits of low-carbon, sustainable economic growth across the region and world.”
AMBASSADOR PRINCESS Lalla Joumala of Morocco, Ambassador Dina Kawar of Jordan, Ambassador Motaz Zahran of Egypt and Deputy Chief of Mission Yousif Ahmed of Bahrain participated, along with former US ambassador to the UAE Barbara Leaf – now senior director for the Middle East and North Africa at the National Security Council – who attended the ceremony as well.
“Now that the Abraham Accords have unlocked the tremendous potential for cooperation between our peoples, we can lead the way in developing the green technologies that will power a green economic recovery – for our countries, our region and the entire world,” Erdan told Otaiba.
“I believe that Israel, the UAE and the United States – together with other Abraham Accords countries and nations from across the Middle East – should establish a new regional forum for sustainable development, aimed at accelerating cooperation, sharing knowledge and advancing innovative solutions to our shared challenges,” He said. The two ambassadors planted an olive tree at the embassy.
“We established a joint working group with the US administration to identify additional possible countries with whom we could normalize relations, and I estimate that in the next few months we will see more countries joining,” Erdan revealed to the Post. “We are on the same page with the administration on that. They want to promote it; I feel it in our joint work.”
The UAE and Israel will participate in President Joe Biden’s Earth Day climate summit and are expected to announce, along with the United States and other countries, new cooperative initiatives on sustainable agriculture projects, finance and green technology.
“You need strong roots to nurture peace across the Middle East. This tree symbolizes the painstaking efforts of Israel and the UAE to normalize their relationship and work toward peace across their region,” said Leaf, who represented the United States at the ceremony.
“The United States looks forward to stronger cooperation with the UAE and Israel on meeting the climate challenge.”