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

WASHINGTON – US President Joe Biden, in a meeting on Monday with President Reuven Rivlin, said Iran will never get a nuclear weapon as long as he is in office.

“Iran will never get a nuclear weapon on my watch,” he said.

Biden also addressed Sunday’s US airstrikes against Iranian-backed militias in Syria and Iraq.

“I directed [Sunday] night’s airstrikes targeting sites used by Iranian-backed militia groups in response to recent attacks on US personnel in Iraq,” he said.

“I just wanted to thank the president for being here,” Biden said at the beginning of their conversation at the Oval Office.

Biden assured Rivlin that his commitment to Israel “is ironclad” and that he has an “unwavering commitment to [Israel’s] self-defense.”

“My team and I are already working closely with the Israeli government that took office earlier this month,” he said. “I am looking forward to hosting Prime Minister [Naftali] Bennett at the White House very soon.”

Later on Monday evening, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi welcomed Rivlin on  Capitol Hill to a meeting with a group of bipartisan lawmakers.

“The support for Israel in this Congress has always been strongly bipartisan, and it will continue to be so, because of our shared values and because of our mutual security concerns,” she told Rivlin at a photo opportunity.

Rivlin was scheduled to hold several meetings at the UN on Tuesday, first with Secretary-General António Guterres and later with 20 UN ambassadors, including those from Russia, the UK, the US, Bahrain and Morocco.

Rivlin also met with UAE Ambassador to the US Yousef Al Otaiba on Monday. In a tweet on Tuesday morning, he thanked him for his “key role” in the Abraham Accords.

— Reuven Rivlin (@PresidentRuvi) June 29, 2021

Rivlin is expected to return to Israel on June 30 and be succeeded by Isaac Herzog on July 7.

Biden and Rivlin discussed regional issues, including the indirect Vienna negotiations to restore the 2015 nuclear agreement with Iran.

This is Rivlin’s fourth visit to Washington as president. He visited former president Barack Obama in January and November 2015 and former president Donald Trump in 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 [share] 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 Iran deal.

“But we count on you,” Rivlin said. “Your declaration just now brought Israelis to understand that we have a great friend at the White House.”

The US and Israel will continue to work to advance peace in the region and promote stability, Biden said during the meeting.

“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,” he said. “And beyond the important progress, we are really looking forward to building a wider bloc of peace and stability.”

National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan and Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman attended the meeting.

“We had a very in-depth, detailed meeting on issues that concern the entire Middle East and, of course, the United States,” 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 Jerusalem mayor] 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,” he said, adding that “things are still far from decided.”

“The leaders discussed the many challenges facing the region, including the threat posed by Iran,” the White House said in a statement about the meeting. Biden “assured President Rivlin that the United States remains determined to counter Iran’s malign activity and support for terrorist proxies, which have destabilizing consequences for the region.”

“The leaders also consulted on opportunities to enhance peace and stability in the Middle East and beyond,” the statement said. “In that regard, the President expressed his strong support for the normalization of relations between Israel and other countries in the Arab and Muslim world.”

The two discussed the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, with Biden emphasizing “the importance of Israel taking steps to ensure calm [and] stability, and to support greater economic opportunities for the Palestinian people.

“President Biden affirmed his view that a negotiated two-state solution remains the best avenue to achieving a lasting peace. The leaders discussed the importance of enhancing efforts to strengthen moderate voices and promote the cause of coexistence while weakening extremists who advocate for hatred and violence,” the White House said.