|
 Carter, making the first visit by a U.S. cabinet official to
Israel since last week's landmark agreement to curb Iran's nuclear
program, aims instead to move away from political tensions over the
accord to more cool-headed, nuts-and-bolts
discussions on deepening security ties.
Increased U.S. military-related support is expected to be on the
table. But Israeli and U.S. officials have played down the prospects
of any looming announcements.
"Friends can disagree but we have decades of rock-solid cooperation
with Israel," Carter told reporters traveling with him.
Carter's mission will not be an easy one.
The United States and Israel fundamentally differ on whether
the Iran nuclear deal makes both countries safer. President Barack
Obama says it does; Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says it does
not.
Israel fears that Tehran's economic gains from a lifting of Western
sanctions could boost Iranian-backed guerrillas in Lebanon and the
Palestinian territories. It could also lead to an arms race with
Arab states unfriendly to Israel.
 Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the highest authority
in Iran, did little to alleviate those concerns in a fiery speech
marking the end of the holy month of Ramadan on Saturday.
Khamenei said the nuclear deal would not change Iran's policy in
supporting allies in Syria, Iraq, Bahrain, Yemen, Lebanon and among
the Palestinians.
Obama has stressed that taking the threat of an Iranian nuclear
weapon off the table increases the security of Israel, the United
States and its allies. U.S. officials have also signaled they are
not changing a longstanding U.S. defense strategy that is
underpinned by the threat of a hostile Iran.
"Neither the deal nor everything else we're doing to advance our
military strategy in the region assumes anything about Iranian
behavior," Carter said.
"There’s nothing in those 100 pages that places any limitations on
the United States or what it does to defend ... its friends and
allies including Israel."
Carter also cited the U.S. commitment to allies to guard against
potential Iranian aggression.
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'DON'T ANTICIPATE A SHIFT'
A senior U.S. defense official, speaking on condition of anonymity,
said Iran was likely to keep trying to take advantage of fragile
states in the Middle East, saying: "I don't anticipate a shift in
their activities."
Israel has a strong army, is believed to have the region's only
nuclear arsenal, and receives about $3 billion a year in
military-related support from the United States. That amount is
expected to increase following the Iran deal, and Carter cited a
range of security issues to discuss.
"We don’t have any big package or announcement or thing to bring to
the Israelis that we’re bargaining over," the senior U.S. defense
official said.
After Israel, Carter will head this week to Jordan and Saudi Arabia.
Iran is the predominant Shi'ite Muslim power, hostile not only to
Israel but to Washington's Sunni Muslim-ruled Arab friends,
particularly Saudi Arabia.
Allies of Riyadh and Tehran have fought decades of sectarian proxy
wars in Syria, Lebanon, Iraq and Yemen.
Saudi Arabia's Prince Bandar bin Sultan, a former head of the
kingdom's intelligence services, wrote last week that the nuclear
deal would allow Iran to "wreak havoc in the region."
But Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir signaled
a willingness during a visit last week in Washington to discuss ways
to strengthen security ties.
Carter said he aimed to work on advancing commitments made to Gulf
leaders in May when Obama hosted them at Camp David.
(Reporting by Phil Stewart; Editing by Peter Cooney and Howard
Goller)
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