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minister and national security adviser. The Israeli spy chief is due to visit next week.
Lapid and Biden "spoke at length about the negotiations on a nuclear agreement, and the various efforts to stop Iran's progress towards a nuclear weapon", a statement from the Israeli premier's office said, as cited by AFP. Lapid told journalists last week that if the JCPOA was brought back it " would give Iran $100 billion a year" that would be used by Iran-backed militant groups Hamas, Hezbollah and Islamic Jihad.
The Biden administration has made it clear it is under no illusions about Iran but at the same time it says that former US president Donald Trump's "maximum pressure" approach to the Islamic Republic, based on swingeing sanctions, has achieved nothing other than bringing Tehran closer to the ability to build a nuclear bomb.
The Vienna talks aimed at finding a path to reinstating the nuclear deal, or JCPOA, between Iran and the major powers are set to resume in the Austrian capital on August 4, with the European Union set to make what’s being billed as a final attempt at saving the agreement.
Representatives of the remaining JCPOA signatories—Iran, France, Germany, the UK, Russia and China—will assemble for the talks at the Hotel Palais Coburg. Indirect contact between the Iranian delegation and the US representatives, including Rob Malley, the US special envoy for Iran, will likely be conducted with the mediation of EU officials.
8 IRAN Country Report September 2022 www.intellinews.com