Former US official says Israel thwarted Iran nuclear negotiations

Moscow (ANTARA) - Israel feared that the United States (US) would reach a nuclear agreement with Iran and subsequently intervened to thwart it, said Joe Kent, former Director of the US National Counterterrorism Center. “This is what Israel feared. Because they knew that President Trump and his negotiation team could potentially reach a deal… When we discussed enrichment, I think there was real potential for an agreement,” Kent said in a YouTube podcast hosted by US journalist Scott Horton. Kent stated that he believed the deal was actually within reach. At that time, Israel was said to have actively intervened by claiming that Tehran was preparing to build nuclear weapons and developing missiles capable of reaching US territory, while emphasising the need for action. “In my opinion, the talks were going very well. They kept meeting… They had real discussions about enrichment,” he said. He also noted that the Iranian side acted “very measured.” When carrying out a retaliatory strike through Operation Midnight Hammer in June, Iran launched a number of missiles equivalent to the number of bombs dropped by the US. The former official assessed this as a signal that Iran was still interested in reaching an agreement. Kent announced his resignation as head of counterterrorism for US President Donald Trump on Tuesday, citing his disagreement with the US operation against Iran. He stated that Washington had been dragged into a conflict with Iran due to a disinformation campaign conducted by senior Israeli officials. On 28 February, the US and Israel launched attacks on several targets in Iran, including in Tehran, causing damage and civilian casualties. Iran responded by attacking Israeli territory and US military facilities in the Middle East as an act of self-defence. The US and Israel initially stated that the attack was necessary to counter the perceived threat from Iran’s nuclear programme, but later affirmed that they wanted a change of power in Iran.