BICOM

Israel’s Defence Minister Moshe Ya’alon told a high-level international security conference in Munich that Iran’s nuclear programme has led Arab states in the region towards their own nuclear development.

An accord was agreed in July between Iran and the P5+1 powers (US, UK, France, Russia, China and Germany), which will likely see Iran curb its nuclear development over the next ten years in return for easing international sanctions. However, the agreement has been strongly criticised by Israel and Sunni Arab countries. Speaking at the Munich conference, Ya’alon said that the 10 – 15 year limit to the deal was “just around the corner.”

As a result, Ya’alon said that Iran is pushing the region towards nuclear armament, commenting, “We see signs that the world’s Arab states are preparing to get nuclear weapons, that they are not willing to sit quietly with a nuclear Iran on the brink of a nuclear bomb.” Ya’alon stressed that behind closed doors he meets with such regional powers, including “the Gulf states and North African states” for whom “Iran and the Muslim Brotherhood are the enemy … Iran is the bad guy for us and for the Sunni regimes.” Stepping down from the podium, Ya’alon shook hands with Saudi Arabia’s Prince Faisal.

Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also stressed the growing relations with Sunni Arab states. He told a conference of US Jewish leaders in Jerusalem that, “Most of the Sunni Arab states view Israel as an ally, not an enemy” and that discreet communications take place between them.

Meanwhile, Ya’alon who met with Jordan’s King Abdullah plus several European defence and foreign ministers while in Munich, also told the conference that in Syria “we are going to face chronic instability for a very, very long period of time.”

Senior Zionist Union leader, Israel’s former-foreign minister Tzipi Livni also attended the Munich conference and met with dignitaries including US Secretary of State John Kerry and European Union foreign affairs chief Federica Mogherini.