JERUSALEM, Israel – The U.S. and Iran held their second round of talks involving Iran’s nuclear program. Many in Israel are concerned the talks may fall short of eliminating Tehran’s pursuit of nuclear weapons.
The two delegations held indirect talks in the Omani Embassy in Rome on Saturday.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi stated, “I can say that the negotiations are moving forward.”
Deputy Foreign Ministry Spokesman Esmail Bghei added, “Definitely, illegal sanctions against Iran must be lifted in a firm and verifiable manner, with guarantees to ensure their implementation. Iran keeping its technical and nuclear belongings is a must in this process. Meanwhile, we have said we are ready to cooperate in resolving any doubts or questions.”
The demand that Iran keep its nuclear structure intact alarms Israel. To persuade U.S. negotiator Steve Witkoff, Israel’s Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer and Mossad Chief David Barnea met with Witkoff in Rome ahead of the talks.
Israeli officials are worried that U.S. demands won’t go far enough. Jerusalem demands that Iran destroy any ability to enrich uranium to the point where it can be used in nuclear weapons.
They also fear that the Americans won’t stop Iran’s advances on ballistic missiles that could then deliver such weapons and destroy Israeli cities, and even U.S. cities.
On Friday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu revealed Israel’s bottom line: Iran’s nuclear program must be destroyed, either peacefully or by military strikes.
In Washington, President Trump is sending two messages to Iran. In one message, he sounded tough, saying, “If they have a nuclear weapon, you’ll all be very unhappy because your life will be in great danger.”
In the other message, he held out hope for Iran’s future, noting, “I want Iran to be great and prosperous and terrific.”
In Jerusalem, the new U.S. Ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, outlined Trump’s position.
“Iran will never have a nuclear weapon,” Huckabee stated. “They will not be in a position where they can threaten the peace, not just of Israel, but all of the people of the rest of the world.”
***Please sign up for CBN Newsletters and download the CBN News app to ensure you receive the latest updates and alerts.***
As for Huckabee, he hit the ground running after he arrived in Israel on Thursday. Early Friday morning, he came to the Western Wall in Jerusalem for his first official act.
“What an honor it is for me to come on behalf of the President of the United States, President Donald Trump, and to present a prayer that he handwrote and gave to me last Thursday in the White House with the instruction that my first act as the ambassador would be to take his prayer, praying for the peace of Jerusalem, with the hope that I would bring it and place it in the Wall with the best wishes and prayer of the American people for the peace of Jerusalem,” Huckabee announced.
He told CBN News what it means to be the first evangelical Christian U.S. ambassador to Israel. “It gives me an extraordinary sense of personal joy to have been named by the president as an evangelical Christian believer to take this post,” he said. “And many people, my Jewish friends, have expressed this over and over again, that if I were Jewish and came as an ambassador, they’d say, ‘Well, of course he supports Israel. He’s Jewish. He doesn’t have a choice.'”
Huckabee continued, “I have a choice, and I make my choice to support Israel and to show my friendship that has existed, by the way, for 52 years, from my very first trip, which was in 1973, when I was a month shy of my 18th birthday. So I’ve seen you, obviously, Chris, probably several dozen of the times that I’ve been here. And it never grows old. I never get to the point where I don’t learn something. I never get to the point where I don’t experience something, being in this very magnificent place.”
On Monday, Huckabee presented his diplomatic credentials to Israeli President Isaac Herzog.
