Netanyahu Claims US ‘Mini-Deal’ Won’t Stop Iranian A-Bomb, Israeli Attack
The Israeli premier says a nuclear agreement between Iran and the US will neither stop the regime from building a bomb nor stop Israel from attacking the Islamic Republic.
The Israeli premier says a nuclear agreement between Iran and the US will neither stop the regime from building a bomb nor stop Israel from attacking the Islamic Republic.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made the remarks on Sunday in reaction to reports citing a Western official that the objective of the impending nuclear deal between Washington and Tehran is to stop Israel from attacking Iran.
The statement goes against all other reports in recent days that quoted other Israeli politicians such as Yuli Edelstein, the head of the Israeli parliament's Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, who said Israel could accept such a deal if it includes rigorous supervision of Tehran's nuclear program.
“Our first mission is to stop Iran from going nuclear,” Netanyahu said at the opening of the weekly cabinet meeting. “We made clear to our American friends time after time, and I am doing it again today, that we oppose agreements, first of all to the original agreement called the JCPOA, which will just pave Iran’s way to the bomb and will pad it with hundreds of millions of dollars.”
“We also tell [the Americans] that more limited understandings, what’s called a ‘mini-deal,’ does not serve our purpose, in our opinion, and we oppose that, as well,” he said, claiming that his “principled opposition” to the JCPOA played a part in ensuring the US does not return to that deal.
Bibi added that “Israel will do whatever it needs on its own to defend itself from Iranian aggression, whether on the nuclear file or its terrorist proxies.”
According to Iranian and Western officials, the Biden administration is holding talks with Iran to sketch out steps that could include limiting the Iranian nuclear program.
These steps would be cast as an "understanding" rather than an agreement requiring review by the US Congress, such as the 2015 accord abandoned in 2018 by then-President Donald Trump.
The Biden administration has repeatedly denied media reports about a deal, acknowledging that contacts were made to clearly convey Washington’s positions. The latest denial came from Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Friday during a press conference.
“With regard to Iran, some of the reports that we’ve seen about an agreement on nuclear matters or, for that matter, on detainees are simply not accurate and not true,” Blinken said.
However, few are convinced that proposals about a deal are not on the table.
"It's not a wide-scope agreement, it's more like a small agreement, a memorandum of understanding, an M.O.U., and I think Israel can live with this if there is real supervision," Yuli Edelstein, head of the Israeli parliament's Foreign Affairs and Defence Committee, told Channel 12's Meet the Press.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office declined comment on whether fellow Likud party member Edelstein's remarks reflected the views of the premier.
On Tuesday, before briefing the foreign affairs and defense committee, Netanyahu said in televised remarks: "Our position is clear. No agreement with Iran would obligate Israel, which will do everything required to defend itself.
"Our opposition to the deal - a return to the original (2015) deal - is working, I think."
"But there are still differences in outlook, and we do not hide these, regarding smaller agreements too. We have been stating our position clearly, both in closed and open sessions," Netanyahu said.
URANIUM ENRICHMENT
A core element of the possible understanding which remains unclear is the degree to which Iran would agree to rein in its uranium enrichment. Israeli officials in Netanyahu's circle have given potentially differing views on the issue this month.
Netanyahu's national security adviser, Tzachi Hanegbi, said Israel didn't see as much "damage" in any new understanding as there was in the 2015 deal, but it was "poised" for any Iranian shift to more than 60 percent fissile purity.
"That would already be a clear acknowledgment that the uranium enrichment is for weapons needs," Hanegbi said in an interview published on Friday in newspaper Israel Hayom, referring to the 90-percent fissile purity required for a bomb.
But last week, Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer - who accompanied Hanegbi to Washington talks about Iran - voiced misgivings about any "freeze" of current enrichment levels.
"It means that you reconcile with a higher level of enrichment in Iran. And we thought that was a bad idea then, and we think it's a bad idea today," he told the AJC Global Forum in Tel Aviv.
However, Israeli Channel 12 news reported that US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin and Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant met Thursday on the sidelines of NATO meeting in Brussels and reached understandings in the light of an emerging nuclear deal between Tehran and Washington.
Having failed to revive the 2015 deal, US President Joe Biden's administration hopes to restore some limits on Iran to keep it from getting a nuclear weapon that could threaten Israel and trigger a regional arms race.
Critics of a limited deal say that Iran would end up keeping the 60-percent enriched uranium, which means the status of a nuclear threshold state, while receiving financial rewards by US allowing other countries to release frozen funds and perhaps some sanctions relief.
Based on reporting by Reuters
Israeli Channel 12 news reported that US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin and Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant met Thursday on the sidelines of NATO meeting in Brussels and reached understandings in the light of an emerging nuclear deal between Tehran and Washington.
In recent weeks, multiple news outlets have reported on direct and indirect US Iranian talks on reducing tensions, a possible interim unwritten agreement to slow down Tehran’s nuclear program and release of Americans held in Iran.
The Biden administration has repeatedly denied any deals with Iran, acknowledging that contacts were made to make clear what US demands were. The latest denial came from Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Friday during a press conference.
“With regard to Iran, some of the reports that we’ve seen about an agreement on nuclear matters or, for that matter, on detainees are simply not accurate and not true,” Blinken said.
Channel 12 news also quoted senior security officials as saying that cooperation with the United States has increased on the issue of Iran, involving the Israeli Defense forces in joint efforts.
Washington has assured Jerusalem that it will maintain its military edge over Iran, and Austin also made clear to Gallant that in addition to close cooperation over Iran, Israel will maintain a free hand to act against adversaries.
Israel has made clear that if it concludes Iran is close to obtaining nuclear weapons, it will not limit itself by any agreements the United States and others might have reached with Tehran and will take military action to stop what it sees as an existential threat.
Israeli officials and media indicate that some sort of a deal between Washington and Tehran is moving forward and that Israel will accept the general parameters of a possible agreement and will not try to foil it.
Israel’s ambassador in the US Michael Herzog was quoted as saying, “Diplomacy isn’t necessarily a bad thing,” during an event hosted by the Democratic Majority For Israel, according to Haaretz.
“As far as we’re concerned, diplomacy in and of itself, and such understandings, are not necessarily bad to the extent that they can help deescalate a situation,” Herzog said.
Iran has acknowledged diplomatic efforts behind the scenes but has been cautious in heralding any imminent deals.
Nour News, affiliated with the national security council on Friday said the White House is showing "positive signals of changing its approach toward Iran in the past few months".
Regarding reports about a possible nuclear deal, the website did not express optimism, but its claim of positive signals was an indication of some satisfaction at the security council.
‘Reformist’ media in Tehran, critical of the ruling hardliners, continued to argue for flexibility and a deal that would lift crippling US sanctions imposed since 2018 when former President Donald Trump pulled of the 2015 JCPOA accord.
Aftab News close to former President Hassan Rouhani in an article on Saturday recounted the “trillions of dollars” in damages to Iran’s economy resulting from its nuclear dispute with the West over a period of two decades.
