Biden to Rivlin: Iran will never get a nuclear weapon on my watch

By admin On Jun 28, 2021

WASHINGTON – US President Joe Biden, in a meeting on Monday with Israeli President Reuven Rivlin, said that Iran will never get a nuclear weapon as long as he sits in office.“Iran will never get a nuclear weapon on my watch,” Biden said.He also addressed Sunday airstrikes against Iranian backed militias in Syria and Iraq. “I directed last night’s airstrikes targeting sites used by Iranian-backed militia groups in response for recent attacks on US personnel in Iraq,” he said.“I just wanted to thank the president for being here,” said Biden at the beginning of their conversation at the oval office.Biden said to Rivlin that his commitment to Israel “is ironclad” and that he has an “unwavering commitment to your self defense.”My team and I are already working closely with the Israeli government that took office earlier this month,” Biden said. “I am looking forward to hosting Prime Minister Bennett at the White House very soon.”Biden and Rivlin are expected to discuss regional issues, including the indirect Vienna negotiations to restore the 2015 nuclear agreement with Iran. After meeting with Barack Obama and Donald Trump, Biden would be the third US President with whom Rivlin meets. It would be his fourth visit to Washington in office, after previous visits in January 2015, November 2015, and November 2017.

“I am delighted to be here once again to meet the President of the United States,” Rivlin told Biden. “Israel has no greater friend or ally than the United States of America. You are our best friends, and we are sharing values of democracy and liberalism.”“And according to a real friendship, we can, from time to time, discuss matters and even agree not to agree on everything,” he said, hinting at the possibility of the renewal of the JCPOA.“But we count on you,” Rivlin told Biden. “Your declaration just now brought Israelis to understand that we have a great friend at the White House.”Biden said during the meeting that the United States and Israel will continue to work to advance peace in the region, and promote stability.”The US fully supports normalization of the relationship between Israel and Middle Eastern countries that you’re making some headway on – in Africa as well,” Biden said. “And beyond the important progress, we are really looking forward to building back a wider block of peace and stability.”National Security Advisor, Jake Sullivan, and Wendy Sherman, Deputy Secretary of State, attended the meeting as well.

“We had a very in-depth, and very detailed meeting on issues that concern the entire Middle East and of course the United States,” President Rivlin told reporters at the end of the White House meeting. “We found in the White House a true friend of the State of Israel, even in the days when I met [Biden] in 1971 in Jerusalem with [former Mayor of Jerusalem] Teddy Kollek, he said that one does not have to be Jewish to be a Zionist.”

“We found a friend that also responded to our requests to keep an eye on everything related to the agreement being formed with Iran,” Rivlin said, and added: “Things are still far from decided.”

“[Biden] clarified his positions and heard our positions. The President thinks it is necessary to invite the Prime Minister as soon as possible in order to coordinate matters regarding the way forward” regarding Middle East challenges, he said.

“We have found true leadership and friendship that is most sympathetic to the State of Israel and to the need to maintain its security and existence.”

From the White House, Rivlin will continue to Capitol Hill to meet with Speaker Nancy Pelosi and a bipartisan group of lawmakers, including Gregory Meeks, Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, and Majority Whip Jim Clyburn. Minority Whip Steve Scalise and Elise Stefanik, Chair of the House Republican Conference, are expected to attend as well.On Tuesday, he will hold several meetings at the UN. First, he will meet with the General Secretary, and later with 20 UN ambassadors, including from Russia, the UK, the US, Bahrain and Morocco. Rivlin is expected to return to Israel on June 30. His term ends on July 7. He will be succeeded by Isaac Herzog, who was elected earlier this month as Israel’s 11th president.
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