US in first meeting with Israel's new FM amid Iran talks
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken meets Israel's new top diplomat Yair Lapid on Sunday, in the United States' first face-to-face meeting with the freshly installed cabinet that seeks a less combative approach with its main ally Washington.
Lapid, a centrist who delayed his own plans to be prime minister as he masterminded a coalition to unseat veteran leader Benjamin Netanyahu, is flying to Rome to see Blinken, who arrives in Italy on Sunday on a three-nation tour of Europe.
The meeting comes as President Joe Biden's administration moves ahead with fresh talks on reviving a 2015 accord with Iran -- strongly opposed by Israel -- in which Tehran drastically scaled back its peaceful nuclear activities in return for promises of sanctions relief.
Biden and Blinken are also eager to preserve a fragile ceasefire that took effect on May 21 between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas after the worst fighting since 2014.
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