BICOM

Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has warned that although international sanctions are impacting Iran financially, there is little to suggest that they have forced Tehran to reconsider their nuclear ambitions, which must be challenged during the coming year.

Speaking yesterday to foreign journalists, Netanyahu said, “The sanctions on Iran are hurting the Iranian economy. There is no question about that. But we have not seen any evidence that sanctions have stalled Iran’s nuclear weapons programme.”

Netanyahu made it clear during a speech to the United Nations General Assembly in September, that his government views the enrichment of enough uranium for Iran to be able to produce any form of nuclear arms as a red line. Reiterating his position, Netanyahu said, “I made clear that once Iran crosses that enrichment threshold, the chances of us effectively stopping Iran’s nuclear weapons program would be reduced dramatically.”

He then warned that the issue is becoming increasingly pressing saying, “Iran is two and a half months closer to crossing this line and there is no doubt that this will be a major challenge that will have to be addressed next year.”

Two weeks ago, at a meeting of the board of governors of the International Atomic Energy Agency, the organisation’s director general Yukia Amano expressed concern at “extensive activities” at Iran’s Parchin facility and called on all sides to work “with a sense of urgency” to find “a diplomatic solution.” However, although tentative talks are set to resume in January between Tehran and the P5+1 powers – the United States, UK, China, Russia, France and Germany – little headway has been made so far.