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Axios from Tel Aviv

Israeli Minister for Strategic Affairs Ron Dermer and national security adviser Tzachi Hanegbi are expected in Washington next week for talks at the White House as concerns grow over advances in Iran's nuclear program and as the U.S. seeks to push for an Israel-Saudi Arabia peace deal, four Israeli and U.S. officials told Axios.

The big picture: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who took power about five months ago, still hasn't received an invitation for a meeting with President Biden at the White House. 

Biden said in late March that he wasn't going to invite Netanyahu in the near future and called on him to “walk away” from his plan to weaken Israel's Supreme Court and other democratic institutions.

Netanyahu and his advisers hope the suspension of the judicial overhaul and negotiations with the opposition about the proposed legislation could lead to an invitation from Biden, according to Israeli officials.

But U.S. officials say the White House still wants to see where these negotiations go before deciding whether to invite Netanyahu for a meeting with Biden.

Details: Dermer and Hanegbi are expected to arrive in Washington toward the end of next week and meet White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan and other senior officials at the White House and the State Department, the U.S. and Israeli officials said.

The primary issues expected to be discussed are Iran and Saudi Arabia. 

An official at the Israeli Prime Minister’s Office said the date of the meetings hasn’t been finalized yet. A White House National Security Council spokesperson said they have nothing to confirm.

State of play: Israeli officials in recent weeks have escalated their rhetoric around concerns over Iran’s nuclear program and the possibility of an Israeli military strike.

IDF Chief of Staff Gen. Herzi Halevi on Tuesday said Iran’s uranium enrichment is more advanced than ever before. He added that Israel is also closely monitoring “other fields” critical for reaching nuclear capability, hinting at Iran’s possible weaponization efforts.

“There are possible negative developments on the horizon that could lead to action. We have capabilities and others have capabilities," Halevi said.

Hanegbi separately on Tuesday said Israel hopes the Iranian nuclear crisis can be solved by non-military means, but he stressed Israel is preparing "for a situation where a confrontation will be inevitable."

The other side: An Iranian official quoted by Al Jazeera said if Israel attacks Iran’s nuclear facilities, it will be responsible for a wide-ranging war.

“We are not calling for a war but the world should know there will be no red lines in our response to Israel," the official said.

Behind the scenes: On Saudi Arabia, the Israeli government wants to work with the Biden administration on trying to reach a peace agreement with the kingdom, Israeli officials said. Dermer is Netanyahu’s point person for the issue.

The White House is hoping to make a diplomatic push for a Saudi-Israeli peace deal in the next six to seven months before the presidential election campaign consumes President Biden’s agenda, as Axios reported last week. 

Scoop: Israeli officials expected to visit White House for talks on Iran, Saudi Arabia

Israeli officials have escalated their rhetoric around concerns over Iran’s nuclear program.

U.S. national security adviser Jake Sullivan meets with his Israeli counterpart, Tzachi Hanegbi, in Jerusalem on Jan. 19. 

Israel

The flags of Iran and Israel outside the IAEA headquarters in Vienna, Austria. Photo: Thomas Kronsteiner/Getty Images

Iran

China is becoming the most formidable rival America has faced, and the risk of confrontation with Russia, North Korea or Iran still looms. Authoritarians are rising, the chaotic Afghanistan exit revealed the limits of U.S. power, and the pandemic, climate change and other critical challenges continue to pose grave threats.

World

Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi arrived in Damascus on Wednesday for an official visit that included a meeting with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

Why it matters: It is the first visit to Syria by an Iranian president since the country's civil war broke out in 2011. Iran has been one of the main backers of the Assad regime during the war and is now looking to play a key role in reconstruction efforts.

State of play: By supporting Assad both militarily and financially, Russia and Iran have helped the Syrian president's regime retake territory once controlled by the rebels.

Iranian military advisers help Assad’s army and Iran brought in Hezbollah forces to help the Syrian president in the war. 

Iran also established several militias in Syria to back the regime. 

Flashback: Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was the last Iranian head of state to visit the country when he met with Assad and Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah in Damascus in 2010.

Driving the news: Iranian officials have repeatedly said Tehran wants to be a key player in the reconstruction process in Syria.

That will allow Iran to benefit economically from the rebuilding and gain even bigger influence in the country. 

"Syria is entering the reconstruction phase and Iran will stand by Syria during this phase too," Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Nasser Kanaani said on Monday.

Iran and Syria also want to signal a united front against Israel. 

Raisi told the pan-Arab television channel Al Mayadeen on Tuesday that his visit to Damascus is part of Iran’s support for the axis of resistance to Israel.

Earlier this week Israel reportedly sent a signal of its own ahead of Raisi’s visit when it bombed targets at the Aleppo International Airport causing it to shut down for repairs.

The big picture: Raisi’s visit to Damascus is taking place amid a wider normalization wave in the region — mainly between Iran and Saudi Arabia, which recently announced they were resuming diplomatic relations.

As part of this regional process, Saudi Arabia is trying to normalize relations between the Assad regime and the rest of the Arab world. 

On Monday, the foreign ministers of Jordan, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Iraq met in Amman with the Syrian foreign minister to discuss the possible return of Syria to the Arab League.

In a statement at the end of the meeting, the ministers called for all foreign forces to leave Syria and urged the Syrian regime to take certain steps like allowing the safe return of Syrian refugees and stopping all drug smuggling across the country.

Between the lines: Saudi Arabia and other Gulf countries like the United Arab Emirates are also eying big infrastructure projects in Syria as part of the reconstruction of the country. 

Rebuilding in Syria is expected to cost hundreds of billions of dollars. 

What they're saying: During their meeting, Assad thanked Raisi for Iran's support during the civil war. “You didn’t only give us political and economic support, you supported us with your blood," Assad said, according to a video released by his office.

Raisi replied that Syria "achieved victory despite the threats and sanctions" because it resisted. He pledged that any changes in the region will not influence the relationship between Iran and Syria.

According to the official Syrian and Iranian news agencies, Assad and Raisi signed a long-term strategic cooperation agreement. It wasn’t clear what the agreement included.

Meanwhile, The Biden administration is not enthusiastic about the Arab efforts to normalize relations with Assad. 

Secretary of State Tony Blinken spoke on Tuesday to his Egyptian counterpart who attended the meeting with the Syrian foreign minister in Jordan. 

Blinken emphasized that “those engaging with the Assad regime should weigh carefully how those efforts are addressing the needs of the Syrian people," the State Department said. 

What to watch: Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu announced on Wednesday that his counterparts from Turkey, Syria, Iran and Russia will meet in Moscow next week.

The meeting is part of the Russian-backed normalization process between Syria and Turkey. 

Iran's president meets with Assad in first Syria visit since war began

“You didn’t only give us political and economic support, you supported us with your blood," Assad told Raisi

The Iranian and Syrian presidents meet in Demascus. 

Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi (left) and Syrian President Bashar al-Assad meet in Damascus. Photo: Handout/Syrian Presidency via Facebook

Syrian Civil War

Axios World

The U.S. is imposing sanctions on the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) and the intelligence arm of the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), plus four IRGC leaders, for their roles in the wrongful detentions of U.S. citizens, senior U.S. officials told reporters on Thursday.

Why it matters: The officials said this was the first of multiple rounds of sanctions in the works to punish and deter those who would hold Americans hostage. The practical implications of this step are unclear as both organizations are already under U.S. sanctions.

These were the first sanctions announced under an executive order President Biden signed last year to provide new tools to help bring hostages home. 

What they're saying: "We do think it's significant that the first round of sanctions are being announced specifically for this type of behavior, because we're really concerned about this type of behavior," a senior official said.

The sanctions package was already in the works before Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich was detained on espionage charges, which the U.S. and WSJ both say are baseless, a senior official said.

The State Department also considers American Paul Whelan to be wrongfully detained in Russia, and at least three U.S. citizens — Siamak Namazi, Emad Shargi and Morad Tahbaz — to be wrongfully detained in Iran.

The big picture: Russia’s Foreign Ministry rejected a request made by the U.S. Embassy in Moscow to visit Gershkovich after the U.S. denied visas for Russian journalists seeking to travel to New York with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, per the WSJ.

“Such sabotage, aimed at preventing normal journalistic work, will not remain unanswered,” the ministry said. “In this regard, the U.S. Embassy is informed that its request for a consular visit to Mr. Gershkovich on May 11…is rejected.”

Editor's note: This story has been updated with additional details.

Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich

U.S. sanctions Russian and Iranian security services for "holding Americans hostage"

Senior officials say there are more sanctions coming.

WSJ reporter Evan Gershkovich appears in court in Moscow. Photo: Sefa Karacan/Anadolu Agency via Getty

Russia

BEIRUT — Last week’s intense exchange of rocket fire over Lebanon’s southern border with Israel left Lebanon in fear of being dragged into another war, which would be catastrophic as the country faces an unprecedented economic crisis.

The big picture: The rocket attack — the worst escalation since the 2006 war — also demonstrated the increasing coordination between Lebanon’s Iran-backed Hezbollah and Palestinian armed group Hamas, experts say. 

Driving the news: Israel blames Hamas for the attacks, but Hezbollah likely authorized the group to launch the rockets, Hilal Khashan, a professor of political science at the American University of Beirut, told Axios.

Hamas has not formally claimed to have launched the rockets, but the group has praised them. For its part, Hezbollah denied being involved. In response to Israel’s attacks, Hezbollah Deputy Secretary-General Naim Qassem last week said that “the entire axis of resistance remains vigilant."

Hamas has in recent years increasingly sought to deepen its connections with the Iran-backed Hezbollah, which as one of Lebanon's most powerful political parties has ample ability to maneuver the country’s domestic and international affairs.

Now isolated from most of the Arab world, Hamas has “reluctantly” turned to Iran for support, said Khashan.

Between the lines: Despite the ideological divide between Sunni-inspired Hamas and Shiite-inspired Hezbollah, the two militias are united under their shared animosity toward Israel.

The warming of Hezbollah-Hamas ties breaks away from the decadelong period of estrangement due to the groups’ backing of opposing sides in the Syrian war.

State of play: Hezbollah’s likely involvement in the rocket fire particularly “enraged” Lebanon’s Christians, amplifying their mistrust toward the Shiite political party and reinforcing their determination to prevent the election of a pro-Hezbollah president, Khashan said.

But Hezbollah’s allies have also condemned the recent violence in the south. The Hezbollah-allied Shiite political party, Amal, said they were not satisfied with the “playing of the security and stability of the south” and did not support the launching of rockets.

Meanwhile, Lebanon has filed a complaint to the UN in response to Israel’s retaliatory attacks on Hamas targets, which it stated were a “flagrant violation” of the country’s sovereignty.

Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh on Sunday concluded his visit to Lebanon, where he met with Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah and discussed “the readiness of the axis of resistance” against Israel.

The bottom line: Israel and Hezbollah want to avoid igniting a war that could explode into a regional confrontation.

Israel deliberately avoided a wider conflict with Hezbollah by focusing its retaliation on Hamas targets.

Hezbollah’s authorization for Hamas to launch the rockets was a mere “show of solidarity” with the Palestinian cause, Khashan said, the Lebanese militia also aiming to avoid an all-out conflict.

“Hezbollah doesn’t want to confront Israel because they know the consequences,” Khashan warned.

Rockets fired from Lebanon highlight growing Hamas-Hezbollah ties, experts say

Hamas has in recent years increasingly sought to deepen its connections with the Iran-backed Hezbollah.

Israeli soldiers deploy in an open area near the border with Lebanon. Photo: Jalaa Marey/AFP via Getty Images

Hezbollah

Saudi Arabia and Iran started working this week on reopening their embassies in Tehran and Riyadh.

Why it matters: The step is a key element in the normalization process between the countries, which started several weeks ago after Saudi and Iranian officials signed a China-mediated agreement to reestablish diplomatic relations. 

Driving the news: The Saudi and Iranian foreign ministers met last Thursday in Beijing — the first such meeting in seven years.

Two days after the meeting, a Saudi delegation arrived in Iran for technical talks about reopening the kingdom’s embassy, according to the Saudi Foreign Ministry.

The Saudi diplomats visited the embassy in Tehran and the consulate in the city of Mashhad.

Saudi Arabia and Iran on Monday announced the resumption of direct commercial flights between the countries.

Meanwhile, a delegation of Iranian diplomats arrived in Riyadh on Wednesday for similar talks about reopening the Iranian Embassy.

State of play: Alireza Enayati, the head of the Iranian Foreign Ministry’s Gulf department, told the Iranian press that the aim is to reopen the embassy in Riyadh and the consulate in Jeddah before the beginning of the hajj pilgrimage in June.

According to the Iranian press, Enayati, who was a member of the Iranian negotiation team with Saudi Arabia over the last two years, is a candidate for being appointed his country’s ambassador to Riyadh.

The big picture: White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan spoke on the phone on Tuesday with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and discussed the normalization process between Saudi Arabia and Iran.

The White House said in a statement that at the same time, Sullivan and MBS underscored "the need to maintain deterrence against threats from Iran and elsewhere."

Sullivan also reaffirmed President Biden’s “unwavering commitment to ensure Iran can never acquire a nuclear weapon," the White House said.

Worth noting: Syrian Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad arrived in Riyadh on Wednesday. It's the first visit by a Syrian foreign minister in more than a decade.

The visit is another sign of the broader normalization wave taking place in the region and could eventually lead to Syria rejoining the Arab League.

Saudi Arabia and Iran hope to reopen embassies before the hajj

The Saudi and Iranian foreign ministers met last Thursday in Beijing — the first such meeting in seven years.

A picture shows the closed Iranian embassy in the diplomatic quarter of the Saudi capital Riyadh, on April 11, 2023. 

The closed Iranian Embassy in the diplomatic quarter of the Saudi capital Riyadh. Photo: Fayez Nureldine/AFP

Saudi Arabia

There's growing optimism that the Iranian-backed Houthi rebels and the Saudi-backed Yemeni government are inching closer to a truce and establishing a road map to end the yearslong war. 

The big picture: The progress in the peace talks in Yemen comes as part of a broader wave of normalization after Iran and Saudi Arabia agreed to reestablish full diplomatic relations easier this year. 

The war in Yemen has created one of the world's worst humanitarian crises, with tens of thousands killed and millions displaced and in need of humanitarian aid. 

Driving the news: Tim Lenderking, the U.S. special envoy for Yemen, traveled to the Gulf on Tuesday to join the efforts being made by the UN and other parties to reach an agreement to extend the cease-fire and expand the peace process in the war-torn country, the State Department said. 

The UN, the U.S. and the Omani government have been working for a year on the peace talks between the warring parties and their backers in Yemen.

Earlier this week, a delegation of Omani and Saudi diplomats visited Sana'a and met with senior Houthi officials. The visit was seen as another sign of progress toward a possible deal.

Saudi-owned newspaper Asharq al-Awsat, citing Yemeni sources, reported that the emerging deal includes extending the cease-fire by at least six months, further opening air and sea ports, and resuming the exports of oil.

The Yemeni government and the Houthis also announced their intention to implement a prisoner swap deal through the International Red Cross on Thursday.

What they're saying: White House National Security adviser Jake Sullivan on Tuesday spoke to Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman (MBS) and discussed "ongoing diplomacy related to ending the war in Yemen," the White House said.

According to the White House statement, Sullivan highlighted the progress made in the Yemen peace process and welcomed Saudi Arabia’s efforts to pursue a more comprehensive road map for ending the war.

Sullivan briefed MBS about Lenderking’s trip to the region. The U.S. envoy is expected to meet with Yemeni, Saudi and UN officials, the State Department said.

“After over a year of intensive U.S. and UN diplomatic efforts and support from regional partners like Saudi Arabia and Oman, Yemen is witnessing an unprecedented opportunity for peace," the State Department said.

Hope for Yemen truce as Iran-Saudi normalization progresses

The progress in the peace talks in Yemen comes as part of a broader wave of normalization in the region.

People walk in Sana'a, Yemen, near a building destroyed in past aerial strikes on March 28. Photo: Mohammed Hamoud/Getty Images

Yemeni Civil War

A statement Gen. Mark Milley, the chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, made during a House hearing last week on Iran's nuclear program alarmed Israeli defense and intelligence officials to the point they protested and asked the Biden administration for clarifications, four Israeli officials told Axios. 

Driving the news: Milley, testifying before the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense, said that the U.S. "remains committed as a matter of policy that Iran will not have a fielded nuclear weapon." The word "fielded" created the impression among Israeli officials that the U.S. had changed its policy on Iran and would tolerate Tehran having a nuclear weapons program, the four sources said. 

Milley also said it would only take Iran two weeks to produce enough uranium for a nuclear weapon. It would then "only take several more months to produce an actual nuclear weapon," he added. 

Behind the scenes: Senior officials in the Israeli Prime Minister’s Office, Ministry of Defense, IDF, Foreign Ministry and Mossad who deal with the Iranian issue were alarmed by Milley’s remarks, the Israeli officials said.

The word "fielded" made the Israeli officials question whether the U.S. would allow Iran to develop a nuclear weapon as long as it didn't deploy it on a missile or other delivery system, the four Israeli officials said. The Biden administration's policy has always been based on preventing Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon. 

The Israeli officials said they were also alarmed by Milley's assessment of the time Iran would need to produce a nuclear weapon once it has a sufficient amount of uranium enriched to 90% purity. 

Milley’s "several months" timeline was not only significantly shorter than the estimate of the Israeli intelligence community, but it was also a U.S. estimate that hadn't been shared with Israel, the Israeli officials said. Israeli officials believe it would take Iran one to two years to build a nuclear device.

The big picture: A senior Israeli official told Axios that other senior Israeli officials from several agencies who work on Iran issues called their U.S. counterparts and expressed concern about Milley's remarks. They also asked that Milley clarify his remarks or retract them. 

Several days later at a House Armed Service Committee meeting, Milly stressed that the U.S. is committed to ensuring Iran never obtains a nuclear weapon. This time, he didn't use the word "fielded." 

He did, however, repeat the claim that Iran would need “several months to produce an actual nuclear weapon" if it enriched enough uranium to 90%. 

Joseph Holstead, a Joint Staff spokesperson, told Axios that the "U.S. policy remains the same." Milley's use of the word "fielded" in the "past was military vernacular," Holstead said.

What they're saying: Israeli officials saw Milley's statement before the House Armed Service Committee as the clarification they hoped for. "We asked the Biden administration to fix it and they did," a second senior Israeli official said.

Scoop: Milley's remarks on Iran alarmed Israel

Milley recently said the U.S. "remains committed as a matter of policy that Iran will not have a fielded nuclear weapon."

Gen. Mark Milley, chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, testifies during a House Appropriations Defense Subcommittee hearing on March 23. Photo: Drew Angerer/Getty Images

Mark Milley

Saudi-Iran deal spurs wider normalization wave

There's a wider effort to de-escalate tensions in the Middle East and end regional conflicts, including the war in Yemen.

A man in Tehran holds a local newspaper reporting on its front page the China-brokered deal between Iran and Saudi Arabia to restore ties, signed in Beijing the previous day, on March, 11 2023. 

A man in Tehran holds a local newspaper with a front-page story of the China-brokered deal between Iran and Saudi Arabia. Photo: Atta Kenare/AFP via Getty Images

As much of the world backs away from Russia over its invasion of Ukraine, Moscow is providing cheap oil, a friend on the UN Security Council and sensitive military technology to those partners still standing by it.

Why it matters: According to the White House, Russia is swiftly moving toward a “full-fledged defense partnership” with Iran, and now plans to dispatch a delegation to negotiate with North Korea. Meanwhile, the U.S. continues to fear that China will abandon its supposed "neutrality" and back Russia more directly.

Driving the news: The U.S. Treasury sanctioned a Slovak arms dealer last Thursday for allegedly attempting to broker a deal whereby North Korea would send “over two dozen kinds of weapons and munitions” to Russia in exchange for “commercial aircraft, raw materials... commodities” and potentially cash.

The White House previously accused North Korea of supplying Russia’s Wagner Group with missiles and rockets to use in Ukraine. Pyongyang denied arming Russia at the time, and said it had no intention of doing so.

National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby said Thursday that Russia intends to send representatives to North Korea to seek munitions in exchange for food. North Korea is experiencing a severe food crisis.

Between the lines: Both Russia and Ukraine are facing shortages of equipment and ammunition, artillery shells in particular.

Ukraine’s backers in Brussels and Washington are scrambling to provide Kyiv with desperately needed 155mm shells.

With his own military-industrial complex struggling to keep up, the Biden administration claims, Russian President Vladimir Putin is turning to “rogue regimes.”

Russia has been using Iranian attack drones in Ukraine for months, and in exchange is offering Tehran "an unprecedented level of military and technical support,” Kirby warned in December.

Iran denies shipping drones since the invasion, and Russia has denied using them, though Ukraine regularly reports shooting them down.

In March, Moscow finalized a deal to sell advanced fighter jets to Tehran’s poorly equipped air force. Iranian pilots have already received training on the system, the White House says.

A member of Iran’s parliamentary national security commission told state media that Iran had also ordered helicopters, missiles, and air defense systems from Russia. According to the WSJ, Russia is also providing surveillance technology for domestic use in Iran.

CNN reports Russia has also sent some U.S. weapons captured in Ukraine to Iran for intelligence purposes. Monitoring the performance of their drones in Ukraine will also help Iran refine its technology and tactics, analysts say.

Several other countries are backing Russia’s invasion at the UN,  underscoring that a pariah to the West tends to be a friend to Putin.

Many were already close to Russia before the invasion. Syria’s Bashar al-Assad and Belarus’ Aleksandr Lukashenko both might have lost power if not for Putin, while Mali’s junta relies on Wagner mercenaries.

Nicaragua’s Daniel Ortega, increasingly reviled in Washington, is moving closer to Moscow.

So is Myanmar’s military regime, which has held a series of high-level engagements with Moscow and purchased Russian weaponry, and is seeking to tap Russia’s expertise in another area: nuclear power.

As with North Korea, Iran and Syria, Russia has blocked statements condemning Myanmar at the UN Security Council.

Many more countries aren’t providing their arms or even their votes, but refuse to condemn Russia or suspend trade. Those include more than a dozen countries in Africa, India and, crucially, China.

For many of them, Russia is a key source of oil, weapons, fertilizer or grain.

For China, Putin’s Russia is also a vital ideological ally in its rivalry with the U.S. While Beijing denies any intention of sending arms, and there's no evidence it's currently doing so, some analysts believe that could change if the Kremlin seems in danger of a destabilizing defeat.

Go deeper: Listen to the Axios Today podcast, where host Niala Boodhoo and Dave Lawler discuss the crucial Spring counteroffensive by Ukraine.

What Putin's partners gain from standing with Russia over Ukraine

Russia provides oil, sensitive military technology and a friend on the UN Security Council.

Vladimir Putin meets Kim Jong-un in 2019 in Vladivostok. Photo: Alexy Nikolsky/Sputnik via Getty Images

Russian invasion of Ukraine

China

North Korea

The Biden administration discussed with its European and Israeli partners in recent weeks a proposal for an interim agreement with Iran that would include some sanctions relief in exchange for Tehran freezing parts of its nuclear program, according to 10 Israeli officials, Western diplomats and U.S. experts with knowledge of the proposal.

Why it matters: The new approach by the Biden administration shows just how concerned the U.S. is about recent advances in Iran's nuclear program. The U.S. has not ruled out diplomacy on reaching an agreement to return to the 2015 nuclear agreement but did take it off the agenda last year over Iran's military assistance to Russia and Tehran's crackdown on anti-government protests.

Iran has amassed 87.5 kilograms of 60% enriched uranium, according to an International Atomic Energy Agency report from late February. Experts say that if that uranium is enriched to 90% weapons grade, it would be a sufficient quantity to produce at least one nuclear bomb.

Israeli officials recently told the Biden administration and several European countries that Iran would be entering dangerous territory that could trigger an Israeli military strike if it enriches uranium above the 60% level, as Axios previously reported. 

Behind the scenes: The Biden administration started discussing the new approach in January and briefed its Israeli and E3 — France, Germany and the U.K. — allies about it in February, according to the 10 sources. 

The proposal discussed included some sanctions relief if Iran froze some of its nuclear activities, mainly halting enriching uranium at 60% purity, according to four of the Israeli officials, Western diplomats and U.S. experts.

One Israeli official and one Western diplomat said the Iranians are aware of the U.S. discussions but have so far rejected the idea. Iran's Ministry of Foreign Affairs did not respond to Axios' request for comment.

The approach is similar to one led by White House National Security adviser Jake Sullivan and CIA director Bill Burns, who were senior members of the Obama administration in 2013 when Iran and world powers signed the 2013 Joint Plan of Action (JPOA), which included a short-term freeze on parts of Iran's nuclear program in return for partial sanctions relief. 

The original interim agreement was for a period of six months and was renewed several times until the full nuclear deal was reached in July 2015.

What they're saying: A White House National Security Council spokesperson said President Biden is "absolutely committed to ensuring Iran never acquires a nuclear weapon, and we still believe diplomacy is the best way to achieve that objective." 

The spokesperson added that the administration is preparing for all possible options and contingencies in full coordination with its partners and allies, including Israel. But the White House "will not comment on second-hand rumors about diplomatic discussions, other than to caution that nearly all such rumors are false."

The big picture: Iranian officials have so far rejected the new approach, saying that it didn't work before and they don't want a deal that includes anything less than the 2015 nuclear agreement, according to the three Israeli officials and Western diplomats.

Scoop: U.S. discussing freeze-for-freeze approach to Iran nuclear program

The approach includes some sanctions relief in exchange for Iran freezing parts of its nuclear program.

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