Biden Assures Israeli President He Won’t Allow Nuclear Iran

President Biden has met with Israeli President Reuven Rivlin on Monday, in the wake of an overnight attack on Iraq and Syria. He aimed to present this as proof that he is being “tough on Iran.“

“What I can say to you is that Iran will never get a nuclear weapon on my watch,” Biden told Rivlin. This comes amid ongoing nuclear talks in Vienna, meant to save the Iran deal.

Reassuring Israel seems to be a never-ending task for US officials, as there is no evidence is Iran is even seeking nuclear weapons, but being tough and stopping Iran remains job one for the US in currying favor with Israeli lobby groups.

Israel has repeatedly made clear that they oppose the Iran nuclear deal, and while Biden has previously indicated he wasn’t going to let Israel dictate the process, he’s making it seem like his overnight attack on Iraq and Syria was about proving his toughness.

This once again gives the impression that a US attack is meant to frame policy as preferable to Israel, while potentially serious concerns like the damage done to US-Iraqi ties seem to be secondary, to the extent they were considered at all.