WASHINGTON – Senior officials from the United States and Israel havesecretly met in Washington to hammer out a deal on confronting Iran onseveral fronts, a new report says, Press TV has reported.
The closed-door meeting, led by US National Security Adviser H.R. McMasterand his Israeli counterpart Meir Ben-Shabbat, took place at the White Houseon December 12, and the two sides agreed on forming joint teams to combatIran in the Middle East region, Israeli media reported Thursday.
The two sides signed a document that would translate US President DonaldTrump’s October speech, where he “decertified” the 2015 nuclear dealbetween Iran and six world powers — the US, the UK, France, China, Russiaand Germany.
The joint teams, four in total, would explore different ways to deal withwhat the Tel Aviv regime refers to as “the Iran threat.”
According to the report, one of the teams would try to curb Iran’sinfluence in Syria and work to block Tehran’s support for the Lebaneseresistant group Hezbollah.
Iran has been supporting the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assadin its fight against foreign-backed militancy since 2011 upon a request byDamascus. Hezbollah has also been helping Assad’s government in the fightagainst Takfiri militants.
The second team was tasked with conducting diplomatic and intelligenceactivities to disrupt Iran’s nuclear program, while another team wouldspecialize in dealing with the country’s ballistic missile work.
Finally, the fourth team would control preparations for any escalation withHezbollah or Tehran.
The report cited a senior Israeli official as saying that Tel Aviv andWashington “see eye to eye on the trends and processes in the region.”
An unknown US National Security Council representative said the dealbetween Tel Aviv and Washington was an informal “framework” rather than afull-fledged plan.
“Obviously, there was a major strategy that was announced a few months ago,and there have been meetings subsequent to that shaped by that newstrategy,” the official added. “And obviously Israel is one of our closestallies.”