Biden Aide Sullivan Says Iran Nuclear Diplomacy May be Exhausted in Weeks

The United States and its partners are discussing time frames for nuclear diplomacy with Iran, U.S. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said on Wednesday, adding that current efforts to achieve a new nuclear deal may be exhausted within weeks.

“We’re not circling a date on the calendar in public, but I can tell you that behind closed doors we are talking about time frames and they are not long,” he told reporters during a visit to Israel.

Asked to elaborate on the time frame, Sullivan said: “Weeks.”

After meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, with whom he discussed “developing a common strategy” for meeting the security challenges in the Middle East, Sullivan went to meet with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas in the latter’s Ramallah headquarters.

Sullivan told Abbas that obstacles to closer American-Palestinian ties “must be removed,” according to a statement by Abbas’s office.

The Biden administration has indicated a desire to repair relations with the Palestinians, much strained during the Trump administration. The PA recently restored formal ties with Washington, but Abbas made clear to Sullivan that he expects the U.S. to be friendlier.

Specifically, he wants the U.S. to reopen the Palestinian consulate in Yerushalayim, which it has promised to do but has run up against Israeli opposition.

Abbas also told Sullivan that, among other things, Israel must stop building in Yehuda and Shomron, halt evictions of Palestinians in East Yerushalayim neighborhoods.

Sullivan, for his part, reiterated America’s commitment to a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, according to the statement.