US and Israel vow to stop Iran nuclear program. Why?

The US and Israel signed a new security pact on Thursday and declared they would not allow Iran to become a nuclear power.

The 'Jerusalem Declaration' on joint security was signed by US President Joe Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid.

"The US is prepared to use all elements of its national power to ensure never to allow Iran to acquire a nuclear weapon," said a statement by Biden.

Lapid said that the only way to stop a nuclear Iran is if Iran knows the free world will use force.

Why does the US and Israel want to stop Iran?

• The US and Israel have long accused Iran of state-sponsored terrorism in the Middle East. Iran provides funding, training and weapons to Lebanon's powerful Hezbollah movement, and the Palestinian groups Hamas and Islamic Jihad in the Gaza Strip, reported the BBC.
• Israel views Iran as its greatest threat, and Sunni Arab countries consider Shiite Iran as a dangerous competitor in the region.
• Israel PM has said that "words" and "diplomacy" were not enough to thwart Iran's alleged nuclear ambitions. "The only way to stop them is to put a credible military threat on the table," Lapid said.
• Iran's President Ebrahim Raisi warned Wednesday that if Biden's trip to the Middle East was aimed at safeguarding Israel's security, he was destined to fail, reported AFP. US "efforts will not create security for the Zionists in any way," he said.

The Jerusalem US-Israel Strategic Partnership Joint Declaration. 🇮🇱🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/lpekVZaGJz

— Prime Minister of Israel (@IsraeliPM) July 14, 2022

Iran nuclear deal

• The Iran nuclear deal was brokered by Barack Obama's administration in 2015. The agreement obliged Iran to scrap or send abroad 98% of its enriched uranium stockpile, remove two-thirds of its centrifuges that produce nuclear fuel and stop work on a heavy-water reactor that could have produced plutonium for a nuclear weapon.
• Iran also agreed to inspections from the UN atomic agency and stopped enriching uranium at a well-fortified underground nuclear site at Fordow, reported the Wall Street Journal. In return, Iran received international sanctions relief and restrictions were lifted for Iran's energy sales and other sectors.

However, the Donald Trump administration abandoned the deal in 2018.

I2U2 meeting

• Biden and Lapid also participated in a virtual summit with India and the United Arab Emirates, a collection of countries called the I2U2. The United Arab Emirates announced it will help finance a $2 billion project supporting agriculture in India.
• I2U2 has established a positive agenda and its framework is a good model for practical cooperation in the face of increasing global uncertainties, PM Narendra Modi said on Thursday.
• The grouping is known as 'I2U2' with "I" standing for India and Israel and "U" for the US and UAE.