Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett gestures as he speaks during a news conference in Jerusalem, July 14, 2021. REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun

i24 News – During his meeting this week with CIA chief William Burns, Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said Jerusalem and Washington should work out a common strategy in the event Iran refuses to re-enter the 2015 nuclear deal, Axios news site revealed Thursday.

According to the site, Israeli officials sensed that the US intelligence chief was also skeptical that Tehran would fully return to the deal, with the new ultra-conservative president Ebrahim Raisi in power.

“It was important for the Prime Minister to clarify that when we say that we think it is a mistake to revert to the 2015 nuclear deal, it is not an automatic continuation of the Netanyahu government’s policy and that we have a different approach,” a senior Israeli official told Axios.

William Burns played a key role in bringing the United States closer to Iran that led to the 2015 agreement between Tehran and the Western powers, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action.

US President Joe Biden sought to re-enter the pact after former president Donald Trump withdrew from it in 2018. For its part, Israel is fiercely opposed to the deal and is trying to convince the Biden administration to change strategy with regard to Iran.

According to the New York Times, US officials are increasingly pessimistic about the prospects of Tehran returning to the deal with the new Iranian power.

Channel 12 news reported on Tuesday that during a meeting with Mossad leader David Barnea, Burns was presented with information intended to show that Iran’s new President Ebrahim Raisi is mentally disturbed, untrustworthy and unable to negotiate a new nuclear agreement or to meet its commitments.