Concerns are rising that US President Donald Trump may iron out a nuclear deal with Iran that is only cosmetically different than the version made by president Barack Obama, Calev Ben David and Elliot Jager discussed on The Jerusalem Post's The Jerusalem Dispatch podcast.
The discussion was sparked by the talks with the Iranian regime and the US held in Oman, as well as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's recent visit to the White House. Insiders and analysts have noted that while the latter's visit to Trump included discussions over the hostage deal talks and US tariffs, the primary reason was Iran.
No Libya model: Will Donald Trump's Iran deal just be a new version of Barack Obama's?
"There are certain signs that the Trump administration is leaning towards a deal with Iran that takes measures to stop it from getting nuclear weaponization," Ben David said, though noting that it "would not be the Libya model."
The Libya model is a reference to the deal made with Libyan dictator Muammar Ghaddafi, wherein he fully dismantled the country's entire nuclear program - no centrifuges or uranium at all. This is also the stated position of Netanyahu of what needs to happen with Iran.
"We don't hear either President Trump or [US special envoy to the Middle East] Steve Witkoff talk anymore about a complete dismantling of the Iranian nuclear program," Ben David noted, adding that if the deal does turn out to be something less than a complete dismantling, "it's going to be a challenge for Prime Minister Netanyahu to do it. It really would just be the Obama deal, maybe with some garnishing to make it more palatable to Israel."