Israeli officials 'regret encouraging Trump to back out of Iran nuclear deal': report

Israeli officials expressed regret for encouraging then-US President Donald Trump to withdraw from the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, which led to the collapse of the agreement.

Security leaders in a consultative meeting expressed their regret that their position on encouraging Trump to withdraw from the deal was so vocal, especially in the face of a similar agreement being close to being potentially signed, Israeli public broadcaster Kan reported on Friday.

Prime Minister Yair Lapid participated in the meeting, Kan said.

The report comes as the US and Iran appear to be close to a deal that would see Iran reopen itself to nuclear inspections and reduce its nuclear development in exchange for sanctions relief. Earlier this month, the European Union gave its final proposal to Iran and the US for the deal. 

The European Union and United States said on Tuesday that they were studying Iran's response to a "final" draft agreement on reviving the accord with major powers the EU presented at talks in Vienna.

The possibility of a deal, which might lead to the lifting of US sanctions on Iran's oil output of 2.5 million barrels per day, has already helped trigger a fall in prices on world markets, with US oil futures dropping nearly three percent to finish below $90 a barrel.

Iran struck the nuclear deal in 2015 with the US, France, Germany, Britain, Russia and China.

In 2018, Trump ditched the deal and reimposed harsh sanctions on Iran. In response, Tehran - which says its nuclear programme is for power generation and other peaceful purposes - breached the agreement in several ways including rebuilding stocks of enriched uranium.

Israel has long been a vocal opponent to the nuclear deal.