Tel Aviv: Prime Minister of Israel Naftali Bennett On Sunday it urged world powers to take a tougher stand against Iran aimed at reviving an international nuclear deal, as their top defense and intelligence officials went to Washington to discuss ongoing talks.
Israel is watching with concern as world powers sit down with Iran in Vienna in hopes of restoring the 2015 accord. Iran struck its own hard line last week after talks resumed in Vienna, suggesting that everything discussed in previous rounds of diplomacy could be renegotiated. Continuing Iranian progress in its nuclear program has further raised the stakes in talks that are crucial to cooling years of tensions in the wider Middle East.
The original deal, led by then-President Barack Obama, gave Iran great relief from economic sanctions in exchange for curbing its nuclear activities. but the then president Donald Trump, with strong encouragement from Israel, withdrew from the deal in 2018, leaving it settled.
Last week’s talks in Vienna resumed after a hiatus of more than five months and were the first in which Iran’s new hard-line government has participated.
European and US negotiators expressed dismay at Iran’s stand and questioned whether talks would be successful under Iran’s tough stance.
Israel has long opposed the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran, known as the JCPOA, saying it is not enough to stop the country’s nuclear program and hostile Iranian military activity throughout the region. As does not address it.
Prominent voices in Israel are now indicating the US withdrawal, especially without a contingency plan for Iran’s ever-developing nuclear plan, was a major mistake. But Israel’s new government maintains a similar position to former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, rejecting a return to the original deal and calling for diplomacy with military pressure on Iran.
“I call on every country that has negotiated with Iran in Vienna to take a strong line and make it clear to Iran that they cannot enrich uranium and at the same time,” Bennett said at a meeting of his cabinet. I can talk.” “Iran will have to pay the price for its violation.”
The United States abandoned the deal in 2018 as part of Trump’s “maximum pressure” campaign against Tehran.
But this approach seems to have backfired. Since the collapse of the deal, Iran now enriches small amounts of uranium to 60% purity – a small step up from the weapons-grade level of 90%. Iran also uses advanced centrifuges banned by the agreement, and its uranium stockpile now exceeds the limits of the agreement.
For now, Iran is showing no signs of backing down. Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Ali Bagheri Kani, who is leading the talks in Vienna, suggested over the weekend that Iran was planning to present a third list of demands to its counterparts. These will include proposed repairs after two pages of demands last week.
“Any sanctions that are infringing and not in line with (the deal) should be lifted immediately,” Bagheri Kani told Al-Jazeera. “All sanctions imposed or reimposed under the so-called maximum pressure campaign of the United States must be lifted immediately.”
President Joe Biden has said the US is ready to re-enter the deal, although the US is not a direct participant in the latest round of talks because of Washington’s withdrawal. Instead, US negotiators were nearby and briefed by other participants, including three European powers, China and Russia.
Although Israel is not a party to the talks, it has made it a point to maintain lines of communication with its US and European allies during the talks, which are due to resume this week.
The current Israeli government objects to a withdrawal from the 2015 deal, instead urging a deal that addresses other Iranian military behavior, such as its missile program and support for anti-Israel terrorist groups such as Lebanon’s Hezbollah. Israel also supports a “credible” military threat against Iran in the form of leverage.
Israeli spy chief David Barnia visited Washington late Saturday on a previously unannounced visit, and Defense Secretary Benny Gantz left for a meeting with his US counterpart on Wednesday Lloyd Austin and Secretary of State Antony Blinken. foreign Minister yair lapido He was in London and Paris last week to discuss talks with Israel’s European allies.
Bennett said Israel was using the time between visits to convince Americans to use “a different toolkit” against Iran’s nuclear program, without elaborating. Israel and the US are widely believed to have conducted covert operations against Iranian nuclear personnel and infrastructure to sabotage the program.
A senior State Department official said negotiators expected Iran to show “seriousness” in the talks. He said Russia and China, which are important trading hubs for Iran, which have traditionally taken a softer stance in their ties with the country, skipped talks about the prospects of a deal last week.
“Every day is a day where we come close to the conclusion that they don’t have in mind the JCPOA return in short order. They have in mind what I want – what we’ll call their own plan B, which is to use the talks as a cover, to act as leverage for a better, continuing build-up of their nuclear program. As a front for Deal for them,'” said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to brief reporters on the US assessment.
He said Iran’s acceleration of its nuclear program threatens the success of the talks.
European negotiators also expressed disappointment with the Iranians. Senior diplomats from Germany, Britain and France said Iran had “fast forward its nuclear program” and “backed down on diplomatic progress”.
“It is not clear how these new gaps can be closed in a real time frame based on the Iranian draft,” he said.
Iran says its nuclear program is peaceful. However, US intelligence agencies and international watchers say Iran had an organized nuclear weapons program as far back as 2003. Non-proliferation experts fear any reduction could push Iran to even more extreme measures to force the West to lift sanctions.
Israel is watching with concern as world powers sit down with Iran in Vienna in hopes of restoring the 2015 accord. Iran struck its own hard line last week after talks resumed in Vienna, suggesting that everything discussed in previous rounds of diplomacy could be renegotiated. Continuing Iranian progress in its nuclear program has further raised the stakes in talks that are crucial to cooling years of tensions in the wider Middle East.
The original deal, led by then-President Barack Obama, gave Iran great relief from economic sanctions in exchange for curbing its nuclear activities. but the then president Donald Trump, with strong encouragement from Israel, withdrew from the deal in 2018, leaving it settled.
Last week’s talks in Vienna resumed after a hiatus of more than five months and were the first in which Iran’s new hard-line government has participated.
European and US negotiators expressed dismay at Iran’s stand and questioned whether talks would be successful under Iran’s tough stance.
Israel has long opposed the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran, known as the JCPOA, saying it is not enough to stop the country’s nuclear program and hostile Iranian military activity throughout the region. As does not address it.
Prominent voices in Israel are now indicating the US withdrawal, especially without a contingency plan for Iran’s ever-developing nuclear plan, was a major mistake. But Israel’s new government maintains a similar position to former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, rejecting a return to the original deal and calling for diplomacy with military pressure on Iran.
“I call on every country that has negotiated with Iran in Vienna to take a strong line and make it clear to Iran that they cannot enrich uranium and at the same time,” Bennett said at a meeting of his cabinet. I can talk.” “Iran will have to pay the price for its violation.”
The United States abandoned the deal in 2018 as part of Trump’s “maximum pressure” campaign against Tehran.
But this approach seems to have backfired. Since the collapse of the deal, Iran now enriches small amounts of uranium to 60% purity – a small step up from the weapons-grade level of 90%. Iran also uses advanced centrifuges banned by the agreement, and its uranium stockpile now exceeds the limits of the agreement.
For now, Iran is showing no signs of backing down. Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Ali Bagheri Kani, who is leading the talks in Vienna, suggested over the weekend that Iran was planning to present a third list of demands to its counterparts. These will include proposed repairs after two pages of demands last week.
“Any sanctions that are infringing and not in line with (the deal) should be lifted immediately,” Bagheri Kani told Al-Jazeera. “All sanctions imposed or reimposed under the so-called maximum pressure campaign of the United States must be lifted immediately.”
President Joe Biden has said the US is ready to re-enter the deal, although the US is not a direct participant in the latest round of talks because of Washington’s withdrawal. Instead, US negotiators were nearby and briefed by other participants, including three European powers, China and Russia.
Although Israel is not a party to the talks, it has made it a point to maintain lines of communication with its US and European allies during the talks, which are due to resume this week.
The current Israeli government objects to a withdrawal from the 2015 deal, instead urging a deal that addresses other Iranian military behavior, such as its missile program and support for anti-Israel terrorist groups such as Lebanon’s Hezbollah. Israel also supports a “credible” military threat against Iran in the form of leverage.
Israeli spy chief David Barnia visited Washington late Saturday on a previously unannounced visit, and Defense Secretary Benny Gantz left for a meeting with his US counterpart on Wednesday Lloyd Austin and Secretary of State Antony Blinken. foreign Minister yair lapido He was in London and Paris last week to discuss talks with Israel’s European allies.
Bennett said Israel was using the time between visits to convince Americans to use “a different toolkit” against Iran’s nuclear program, without elaborating. Israel and the US are widely believed to have conducted covert operations against Iranian nuclear personnel and infrastructure to sabotage the program.
A senior State Department official said negotiators expected Iran to show “seriousness” in the talks. He said Russia and China, which are important trading hubs for Iran, which have traditionally taken a softer stance in their ties with the country, skipped talks about the prospects of a deal last week.
“Every day is a day where we come close to the conclusion that they don’t have in mind the JCPOA return in short order. They have in mind what I want – what we’ll call their own plan B, which is to use the talks as a cover, to act as leverage for a better, continuing build-up of their nuclear program. As a front for Deal for them,'” said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to brief reporters on the US assessment.
He said Iran’s acceleration of its nuclear program threatens the success of the talks.
European negotiators also expressed disappointment with the Iranians. Senior diplomats from Germany, Britain and France said Iran had “fast forward its nuclear program” and “backed down on diplomatic progress”.
“It is not clear how these new gaps can be closed in a real time frame based on the Iranian draft,” he said.
Iran says its nuclear program is peaceful. However, US intelligence agencies and international watchers say Iran had an organized nuclear weapons program as far back as 2003. Non-proliferation experts fear any reduction could push Iran to even more extreme measures to force the West to lift sanctions.
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