Defense Secretary: US Won’t Change Israel’s Mind on Iran Deal

Carter: Trip About Increasing Military Ties

Arriving in Tel Aviv tonight for an official visit, Secretary of Defense Ash Carter insisted that he had “no expectation” that either he or any other US officials were going to change Israel’s mind on last week’s Iran deal, and that this wasn’t the purpose of his trip.

Talking to media en route to the trip, which will have stop offs in Israel, Jordan, and Saudi Arabia, Carter played up the “good deal” with Iran, and said he intended to convoy that message to those nations, despite his lack of expectation on changing anyone’s mind.

For his visit to Israel, Carter said the focus of the trip would be on increasing military ties with Israel, and reiterated that the reason he thinks Iran is a “good deal” is because it doesn’t get in the way of the US or Israel, or both, attacking Iran out of the blue.

While Israeli officials have conceded that they will eventually be negotiating a multi-billion dollar payoff in return for the nuclear deal, Carter is not expected to publicly bring this matter up, or to play a significant role in negotiating such a deal during this visit.

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.