Iran might “shortly” agree on a new nuclear deal with major powers, but it is likely to be weaker than the original 2015 agreement, Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said on Sunday.
He addressed Iran’s nuclear program in two speeches on Sunday — at his Cabinet meeting and at a conference of Jewish American organizations — following signs that a deal was taking shape during negotiations in Vienna.
“We are looking to Vienna and we are deeply troubled by what we see,” Bennett told the conference.
Photo: Reuters
Earlier, he had told the Cabinet: “We might see an agreement shortly,” but the deal in the making “is shorter and weaker than the previous one.”
The 2015 Iran agreement offered Tehran sanctions relief in exchange for curbs on its nuclear program. The US unilaterally withdrew in 2018 under then-US president Donald Trump and reimposed heavy economic sanctions.
Talks on reviving the pact, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), restarted after a gap of several months in the Austrian capital in late November, directly involving Britain, China, France, Germany and Russia, while indirectly involving the US.
Israel has been a staunch opponent of the JCPOA and repeatedly said that any revenue Tehran earns as a result of new sanctions relief would be used to purchase weapons that could harm Israelis.
The Israeli prime minister, in his speech to the Jewish conference, highlighted what he described as multiple concerns in the proposed deal, without detailing his sources on the content of the talks.
He said that a new Iran deal could expire in 2025, when the original JCPOA negotiated under former US president Barack Obama is due to lapse.
“The single biggest problem with this deal is that in two-and-a-half years — which is right around the corner — Iran will be able to develop, install and operate advanced centrifuges,” he told the conference.
Iran is trying to shut down International Atomic Energy Agency probes into a possible military use of its nuclear program, he said, adding that Tehran “is demanding that the inspectors that caught them will pretend to forget what they saw.”
Iran is attempting to reverse a Trump administration move to list the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps as a terrorist group, he said.
Israel would not be bound by a restored agreement, but would retain the freedom to act against Iran, he said.
“Israel will always maintain its freedom of action to defend itself,” Bennett added.
Signs of a deal coming together emerged over the weekend, with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz saying that there “was the chance to reach an agreement that will allow sanctions to be lifted,” while warning that talks could still collapse during what he called the “moment of truth.”
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