Official: Israel Won’t Attack Iran Until After Western Talks End

'Two More Rounds' of Talks Before Attack Can Happen

An unnamed but reportedly “well-placed” Israeli official is telling the media that Israel will not launch any military attack on Iran until the P5+1 talks have ending, saying that “of course” they will have to wait until the talks end.

The official said Western powers made it clear there would be five rounds of talks, and with the Moscow talks over that means two more rounds are left, including next month’s Istanbul talks and another, as yet unscheduled round. He added that the assumption was that there would be no serious progress until the fifth round, and that the other four were just “posturing.”

The position is starkly different from those taken by named Israeli officials on the record, as they have insisted all along that they were liable to launch an attack on Iran at any time, including right in the middle of the negotiations, and indications that the military was “super ready” to attack Iran at a moment’s notice.

If what today’s official said is true that means the past threats, as well as the feigned outrage at additional rounds of negotiation after the first one, were all posturing as well, with Israel perfectly aware that the talks would be extended and were already resigned to waiting it out.

It also brings the timetable for the oft-threatened war into greater focus. With round four scheduled for early July, round five is likely to be in late July or early August, meaning that once again the 2-3 month period ahead of the US elections, often termed the “sweet spot” for the war, will also mark the end of this round of negotiations.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.