CIA Director in Israel as Biden Administration Mulls Interim Iran Deal
Voice of America
The director of the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency, William Burns, is in Israel for talks that officials say will focus primarily on Iran. His arrival Tuesday comes amid rapidly rising tensions in the region and a drone strike on an Israeli-managed oil tanker in the Gulf of Oman, which Western governments blame on Tehran.
Last week, there was also an escalation in cross-border hostilities between Hezbollah, the Iranian-backed radical Lebanese group, and Israel. Hezbollah fired cross-border rockets, which landed near Israeli military positions, drawing retaliatory Israeli strikes into southern Lebanon. Both sides appeared careful to avoid casualties, but on Saturday, Hezbollah leader, Hassan Nasrallah warned he could order an escalation. Iran has denied it was behind the drone strike last month on the HV Mercer Street in which two crew members, a Briton and a Romanian, were killed. But Western officials and analysts say it fits a pattern of increased combative behavior by Iran, especially over the past six months.A demonstrator argues with police officers during an opposition protest of the foreign influence bill at the Parliamentary building in Tbilisi, Georgia, on May 28, 2024. The Georgian parliament overrode a presidential veto of the measure, which has sparked wide protests. Demonstrators gather at the Parliamentary building during a protest against the foreign influence bill in Tbilisi, Georgia, on May 28, 2024. The Georgian parliament overrode a presidential veto of the legislation.
Villagers move a rock as part of search efforts following a devastating landslide, in Yambali village, in the Highlands of Papua New Guinea, May 27, 2024. (Juho Valta/UNDP Papua New Guinea via AP) Devastation caused by a landslide is seen in Yambali village, in the Highlands of Papua New Guinea, May 27, 2024. (Juho Valta/UNDP Papua New Guinea via AP)
A vendor with an umbrella over his head throws water over the bananas on a hot summer day in Varanasi on May 27, 2024. Children run behind a truck spraying water along a street on a hot summer day in New Delhi on May 28, 2024. Roadside food vendor Atma Prakash Singh in New Delhi says standing on the hot road in the sizzling summer is a problem. (Anjana Pasricha/VOA) Ice cream vendor Jai Singh in New Delhi says he gets skin rashes due to the sizzling heat. (Anjana Pasricha/VOA) People buy air coolers from a roadside vendor on a hot summer afternoon in New Delhi on May 20, 2024, amid the ongoing heatwave.
A person votes at a polling station during a special voting day, ahead of South Africa's general elections to elect a new National Assembly, in Cape Town, South Africa, May 27, 2024. Elderly special voter Thelma Thembeka Dingaan, 65, checks her ballot papers at her home in the Yeoville neighborhood of Johannesburg, South Africa, on May 27, 2024.
This undated handout photo taken by the UN Development Programme and released on May 28, 2024 shows locals digging at the site of a landslide at Mulitaka village in the region of Maip Mulitaka, in Papua New Guinea's Enga Province. This photo released by UNDP Papua New Guinea, shows a landslide in Yambali village, in the Highlands of Papua New Guinea, May 27, 2024. Authorities fear a second landslide and a disease outbreak are looming at the scene of Papua New Guinea's recent mass-casualty disaster.
Ali Larijani, left, and Saeed Jalili, right, are seen in this 2008 photo by Iranian state-approved news site Asr Iran in 2008. (Asr Iran) Iran's interim president Mohammad Mokhber speaks during the opening ceremony of Iran's 12th parliament in Tehran, Iran, May 27, 2024. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS FILE - Presidential candidate Saeed Jalili attends an election debate at a television studio, in Tehran, Iran June 8, 2021. Morteza Fakhri Nezhad/YJC/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS FILE - Iranian parliament speaker Ali Larijani attends a news conference at the Iranian embassy in Beirut's southern suburbs, as a picture of late Iran's Quds Force top commander Qassem Soleimani is seen in the background, Lebanon February 17, 2020. FILE - Iranian Minister of Roads and Urban Development Mehrdad Bazrpash and the Russian Ministry of Transport Vitaly Savelyev during a ceremony in Tehran, Iran, May 17, 2023. Iran's Presidency /WANA (West Asia News Agency)/Handout via REUTERS Parviz Fattah, head of Iranian state-owned enterprise Execution of Imam Khomeini's Order (EIKO), is seen in this photo posted on the EIKO website on May 14, 2024. (EIKO)