Israel said holding out hope that gaps between it and US on Iran still bridgeable

An Israeli official tells the Walla news site that Jerusalem still hopes to reach agreements with the US on the Iran, even as Washington moves closer toward rejoining reentering the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, thanks to productive talks in Vienna.

“We don’t think that all is lost, and as long as we still have an opportunity to present our position, we will try and do so in hopes that we’ll succeed,” the senior official says.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will be holding a meeting at his office along with Defense Minister Benny Gantz and Foreign Minister Gabi Ashkenazi during which the sides will discuss Israel’s strategy on the matter.

Jerusalem had been hoping that the indirect talks between the US and Iran that have been taking place in Vienna would not bear fruit and that the sides would not be able to return to the JCPOA. Considerable progress has been reported at the talks, though no final agreements have been reached.

Israel will be sending a series of high-level officials to Washington next week including IDF Chief of Staff Aviv Kohavi, Mossad chief Yossi Cohen, National Security Council chairman Meir Ben-Shabbat and head of the IDF’s Intelligence Division Tamir Hayman in a last-minute blitz aimed at convincing the US to, at the very least, take as hard a line as possible against Iran.