JERUSALEM: The US and Israel signed a new security pact on Thursday reinforcing their common front against Iran, as President Joe Biden pledged to use “all” American power to stop the Islamic republic from acquiring nuclear weapons.

The declaration was inked by Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid and Biden, who was making his first trip to the Middle East as president.

It commits the United States to “never to allow Iran to acquire a nuclear weapon”, stating that it “is prepared to use all elements of its national power to ensure that outcome”.

A landmark deal that imposed curbs on Iran’s suspect nuclear programme in exchange for sanctions relief was torpedoed in 2018 by former US president Donald Trump. Efforts to revive the accord have been stalled since March.

Asked on Thursday how long the US was prepared to give those efforts, Biden said “we’re not going to wait forever” for a response from the Islamic republic.

A day after Israeli officials presented Biden with their latest military hardware, the president said the two countries would co-operate on developing “high-energy laser weapon systems”.

Israel, which has the Middle East’s sole but undeclared nuclear arsenal, is staunchly opposed to the deal with Iran, which has always denied seeking the bomb.

Lapid warned “words” and “diplomacy” were not enough to thwart Iran’s alleged nuclear ambitions.

“The only thing that will stop Iran is knowing that if they continue to develop their nuclear programme the free world will use force,” he said. Iran’s ultra-conservative President Ebrahim Raisi warned the US and its allies that his country “will not accept any crisis or insecurity in the region”.

“Any mistake made in this region will be met with a harsh and regrettable resp­onse,” Raisi said in televised remarks. Biden touched down in Israel on Wednesday, his 10th visit to the Jewish state since 1973, when he came as a newly elected senator.

He held talks with Israeli President Isaac Herzog later on Thursday and was due to meet an old acquaintance, opposition leader Benjamin Netanyahu.

On Friday the US president will travel to the occupied West Bank to meet Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas, before Air Force Once makes the first publicly acknowledged direct flight from Israel to Saudi Arabia.

Biden said the journey itself “represents important progress”, following Israel launching diplomatic ties in 2020 with Riyadh’s Gulf neighbours the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain. “Israel’s integration in the region, Israel’s peace with its neighbours, these are essential goals,” Biden said.

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine will be a top priority for the president’s meetings with Arab leaders, with volatile oil prices due to be the focus of talks with Saudi officials in particular.

The president will seek to persuade Saudi Arabia to pump more oil in order to drive down prices, which have fuelled US inflation to the highest levels in decades.

On Thursday, Biden reaffirmed Washington’s policy of pressing for “a two-state solution for two people, both of whom have deep and ancient roots in this land, living side by side in peace and security.” But he made it clear he has no plans to reverse Trump’s controversial decision to recognise Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.

Published in Dawn, July 15th, 2022