Visit Middle East: CIA Director Meet Israeli PM, Mossad Director, To Palestinian President, What Language?

Direktur CIA William Burns. (Wikimedia Commons/U.S. Department of State)

JAKARTA - Director of the United States (US) Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) William Burns is scheduled to arrive in Israel this Tuesday, to begin a series of Middle East visits.

The so-called visit attracted attention, in the midst of a number of existing problems, the 2015 Nuclear Deal, Iran, to the Palestinian issue, with all intertwined involved, the US, Iran, Israel and Palestine.

Citing The Jerusalem Post Tuesday, August 10, the US is considering alternative ways to get Iran to stop advancing its nuclear program, during negotiations to return to the 2015 Iran deal.

One option the US is considering is limited sanctions relief in exchange for a freeze on Iran's uranium enrichment, Bloomberg reports. However, the US is still officially calling for a return to the nuclear deal, with negotiations continuing to make it longer and stronger.

In recent months, Iran has begun enriching uranium to 60 percent, developing uranium metal and blocking the International Atomic Energy Agency's (IAEA) access to its nuclear facilities.

US and European officials fear that Iran's violation of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) agreement will become so advanced that it will render the nuclear deal irrelevant.

Israel has long argued that Iran has reached that point. Last week, Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz said Iran had the potential to develop nuclear weapons within the next 10 weeks.

Iran is at the top of Burns' agenda for his visit to Israel this week. He is expected to meet Prime Minister Naftali Bennett on Wednesday, his spokesman confirmed after initial reporting by Axios. In addition, Burns will also meet the new Mossad Director, David Barnea.

While launching Axios, Bill Burns will also discuss regional activities, where Israel has been engaging in attacks with Lebanon in the past week. Also, the incident on the Mercer Street tanker attack.

Not only with Israel, Bill Burns is also said to be visiting Ramallah, to hold talks with the Palestinian Authority's Intelligence Chief Majed Faraj, as well as Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. Unfortunately, the US Embassy in Israel declined to comment on this matter.

Tensions on the border between Israel and Gaza have also increased in recent times, related to the repeated shipments of incendiary balloons to Israeli territory, which the Israeli military (IDF) has responded to with attacks.

Despite the CIA's close ties to Israel and the Palestinians, the Middle East was no stranger to Burns. During his time as a US State Department diplomat, he established relationships with many Palestinian and Israeli officials.

To note, before the nuclear deal was reached in 2015, there was Bill Burns' contribution to make the deal happen. Along with US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan, Bill Burns secretly met with Israeli representatives in Oman in 2013, citing Axios.

The meeting, which was held in secret, without notifying any of Washington's Allies, triggered a deep crisis between the Barack Obama Administration and the Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's administration at that time.