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Israel lays out concerns over preliminary Iran nuclear deal
Israeli leaders continued to express grave concern over the outline to a nuclear deal agreed last week between Iran and the P5+1 powers (US, UK, France, Russia, China and Germany).
The agreement over a framework came after a deadline for talks was twice extended in Lausanne, paving the way for negotiations to begin over the details of a potential accord, which must be agreed by June.
On Sunday, Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu gave interviews to America’s major television networks and warned that the nascent deal would leave Iran as a serious nuclear threat. He told NBC’s Meet the Press that the agreement now under discussion could prove to be a “historically bad deal,” explaining “it leaves the preeminent terrorist state of our time [Iran] with a vast nuclear infrastructure, not one centrifuge destroyed.” In an interview on CNN’s State of the Union, Netanyahu said that the choice isn’t between “this bad deal or war,” but that “there’s a third alternative, and that is standing firm, ratcheting up the pressure until you get a better deal.”
Providing more detail on what an improved deal might look like, Israel’s Strategic Affairs Minister Yuval Steinitz told foreign journalists that there are several modifications which could “dramatically change” the outline agreed last week. These include an end to Iranian advanced nuclear research, a cut in the number of Iranian centrifuges in the event that Tehran violate the deal, closure of the Fordow reactor, shipment of enriched uranium out of Iran and a commitment to grant inspectors unfettered access “anytime, anywhere.”
Israel’s Defence Minister Moshe Ya’alon also added his voice to the debate in interviews on all three major Israeli television networks. He emphasised Iran’s regional ambitions, telling Channel Two, “As they speak about the number of centrifuges, Iran takes over Yemen … the Golan Heights, Hezbollah.” Ya’alon said that “deep disagreement” over the deal with the United States is based on mistrust of Iran and that “security cooperation is excellent” with Washington.