US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and several senior Biden administration national security aides in the Biden administration met with Israeli intelligence chief Yossi Cohen, the Associated Press reported.

“The two-hour meeting was the second this week in Washington involving senior officials from the two countries and underscored Israel’s unease with ongoing indirect nuclear negotiations between Iran and the United States in Vienna and Iran more broadly, the officials said. Although other issues were discussed, Israel used Thursday’s meeting to ‘express strong concerns’ about Iran,” the report said on Thursday.

The group of US officials included Blinken’s deputy Wendy Sherman, National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan, National Security Council Middle East expert Brett McGurk and diplomat Derek Chollet. In addition to Cohen, Israeli Ambassador to the United States Gilad Erdan was also present at the meeting, according to the report.

Reuters also reported the meeting, adding it took place on Thursday.

When asked about the meeting with Israel’s spy chief, a US State Department spokesperson told Sputnik the department did not have a comment on the story.

The meeting reportedly occurred amid the ongoing negotiations in Vienna on reviving the 2015 nuclear agreement. The Israeli government has repeatedly protested the US’ possible return to the deal. In response, Tehran has slammed the international community for hypocrisy, citing wide-spread reports about the Zionist entity having obtained nukes long ago.

Meanwhile, media have reported recently that Washington is mulling lifting some of the toughest sanctions almost entirely in order to bring Iran back into compliance with the JCPOA.

Source: Agencies