Israel hosted US Central Intelligence Agency chief William Burns on Tuesday for talks focused on Iran, in which Jerusalem reportedly sought to snatch away any US rapprochement with Tehran by projecting Iran’s new president as a deranged misfit. Tried.
Officials gave no details of the agenda of the CIA chief’s talks in Israel, but the Walla news site reported that Burns planned to meet with Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, Mossad spy agency chief David Barnia and other senior intelligence figures.
According to Channel 12 News, during the meeting with Barnia, a Mossad official briefed Burns with the intention of showing Iran’s President Ibrahim Raisi unreliable and unable to negotiate a new nuclear deal or live up to his commitments. .
According to Chanel, Barnia gave Burns a dossier on Raisey that portrayed her as extraordinarily extreme, cruel, corrupt and unstable.
“Mossad described him as a mentally disturbed person,” the channel claimed in an unsourced report.
Raisi, a hardline former judiciary chief of the likes of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei for the role, has been accused of ordering the execution of thousands of prisoners at the end of the Iran-Iraq war in 1988.
He took office on Thursday, succeeding Hassan Rouhani, a relative liberal who in 2015 agreed to a landmark deal that curbed Iran’s nuclear activities in exchange for sanctions relief.
Burns, a career diplomat, played a key role in the US rapprochement with Iran that led to an agreement between Iran and the major powers.
US President Joe Biden has sought to rejoin the deal after former President Donald Trump withdrew in 2018. Israel opposes the deal and government officials have held frequent rounds of talks with US counterparts on nuclear negotiations.
CIA Director William Burns speaks during a House Intelligence Committee hearing on Capitol Hill on April 15, 2021 in Washington. (El Drago/Pool via AP)
Burns’ visit comes amid what analysts call a “shadow war,” which has seen a slew of attacks on facilities in Iran and seaplanes linked to Israel.
Last month, MT Mercer Street, an oil products tanker operated by Israeli-controlled Zodiac Marine, was hit by a drone off the Omani coast, killing two crew members – a Briton and a Romanian.
G7 foreign ministers pointed the finger of blame for the attack on Iran on Friday, as the US military released the findings of an investigation that alleged the drones were built in the Islamic republic.
Iran denied the allegations.
Defense Minister Benny Gantz said on Tuesday that Iran was “the biggest threat to peace in the region”.
“We call on the international community to take action to stop the Iranian aggression,” Gantz said.
Tug boats tie up next to the Israeli-managed tanker MT Mercer Street, off Fujairah Port in the United Arab Emirates on August 3, 2021. (Karim Sahib/AFP)
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Monday vowed to punish Iran for allegedly attacking the tanker, saying the world cannot allow “impunity”.
“It is up to all of our countries to hold those responsible. Failing to do so will fuel their sense of impunity and encourage others willing to defy maritime order,” he said.
A Palestinian official said Burns is also expected to travel to Ramallah for talks with Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas.
Wala News said he would also meet Palestinian intelligence chief Majid Faraj there.
