BICOM

Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called on the P5+1 powers (US, UK, France, Russia, China and Germany) not to rush into a nuclear deal with Iran, especially in light of a nine-point plan for Israel’s elimination, promoted yesterday by Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei.

The plan, which was published from Khamenei’s official Twitter account, says that Israel should be eliminated as it is guilty of “infanticide, homicide, violence.” Among Khamenei’s recommendations, he says, “The only means of confronting a regime which commits crimes beyond one’s thought and imagination is a resolute and armed confrontation.” Khamenei adds that, “The West Bank should be armed like Gaza.”

His comments come with Iran locked in a pivotal final stage of negotiations with the P5+1 over a potential long-term agreement regarding Tehran’s nuclear development. The two sides have set a 24 November deadline to reach an agreement. Talks between EU representative Baroness Ashton, US Secretary of State John Kerry and Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammed Zarif took place yesterday and Sunday in Oman as a prelude to full negotiations during the coming two weeks. However, there has been little sign of tangible progress. Several significant gaps remain, most notably the size and scope of Iran’s uranium enrichment capacity.

With negotiations at a crucial point, Netanyahu yesterday sent a letter directly to the foreign ministers of the P5+1 countries, in which he highlighted that Khamenei “calls for the annihilation of Israel – his words, not mine… he gives nine ways and reasons of how and why Israel should be annihilated” at the same time as “negotiating a nuclear deal with the P5+1.” Netanyahu explained, “There is no moderation in Iran. It is unrepentant, unreformed, it calls for Israel’s eradication, it promotes international terrorism.” He concluded, “Iran must not be allowed to become a nuclear threshold power. And I call on the P5+1 countries – don’t rush into a deal that would let Iran rush to the bomb.”