Ahead of Thursday’s planned round of talks between the United States and Iran in Geneva, and despite the close coordination between the Netanyahu government and the Trump administration, Israel lacks a clear, definitive answer as to where the United States is headed.

The assessment in Israel, from the start of the US-Iran negotiations in early February, was that the talks would not bear fruit. Indeed, the announcement this week of an additional round of negotiations was received in Israel with some surprise.

However, this time the US was more assertive, presenting the Iranians with a pre-talks ultimatum: It required Tehran to deliver a detailed response by Tuesday regarding the concessions it is prepared to offer. The final decision on whether to go ahead with Thursday’s talks, it indicated, would depend on the nature of the Iranian response.

The Iranians ostensibly took this threat seriously. Realizing, perhaps, that they were backed into a corner, they were set to deliver their response to Muscat via Ali Larijani — the individual closest to the supreme leader, which apparently signifies a serious proposal delivered with the personal consent of Ali Khamenei.

According to several reports, the Iranian offer is expected to include the transfer of half of its 60% enriched uranium to a third country, while the remaining half would be diluted on Iranian soil, in exchange for the removal of a significant portion of economic sanctions.

It is doubtful, though, that such a proposal would meet the American threshold.

It would leave Iran with enough........

© The Times of Israel