Israel’s Envoy Reuven Azar explains why Tel Aviv doesn’t view Pakistan as a US-Iran mediator, plus the 15-point plan for Iran and why Gaza and Lebanon conflicts remain separate.
Israel’s Ambassador to India, Reuven Azar, has said that Tel Aviv doesn’t trust Pakistan as a ‘credible player’, despite Islamabad functioning as a mediator between Iran and the US.
“We don’t see Pakistan as a credible player. I think that the United States has decided to use the services of the facilitation of Pakistan for their own reasons. We have seen in the past how the United States has managed to take problematic states like Qatar and Turkey and use them for the benefit of achieving an agreement with Hamas… For us, it is very important to stay in sync with the United States when it comes to the substance and the essence of the outcome we want to see,” he said in an interview with news agency ANI.
He was also asked if Israel is open to extending the ceasefire framework to include Lebanon and Gaza. Azar said the two conflicts are different. “They’re treated separately. We already have a framework agreed by the international community on Gaza. Hamas has to disarm… It has nothing to do with the operation in Iran,” he said.
“When it comes to Lebanon, we have to achieve a situation in which southern Lebanon will be cleaned from Hezbollah terrorist infrastructure. That’s the responsibility of the Lebanese government,” he said.
He further said that the Iran negotiation will lead to the conditions that are part of the 15-point plan. “That means no military nuclear capabilities on Iranian soil, curbing their ballistic missile program and a full stop to the proliferation of terror in the region,” he said.
