Naftali Bennett expresses his dissatisfaction with a prospective agreement now being negotiated in Vienna between Iran and international powers.
Iran may "shortly" agree on a new nuclear agreement with major nations, according to Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, but he cautioned that it will be weaker than the previous 2015 pact.
Bennett was speaking on Sunday before of a cabinet meeting, which was called in response to reports that the outline of an agreement was taking form during negotiations in Vienna.
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| Naftali Bennett - ARCHIVE |
"It's possible that we'll reach an agreement soon," Bennett said, adding that the accord in the works is "shorter and weaker than the last one."
While the 2015 Iran nuclear agreement provided Tehran with sanctions relief in exchange for curbs on its nuclear program, it was the United States' unilateral withdrawal from the agreement in 2018 under then-President Donald Trump that resulted in the reinstatement of harsh economic sanctions against the country.
Since late November, negotiations on renewing the first agreement, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), have been taking place in Vienna, with the United Kingdom, China, France, Germany, and Russia participating directly and the United States participating indirectly.
On Sunday, the vast majority of Iran's MPs warned the government should not agree to a new agreement unless mechanisms are put in place to ensure that the United States and European nations do not withdraw from the agreement and reimpose severe sanctions.
There was no immediate response from Iranian officials to the statements made by the Israeli leader. Iran has argued for years that its nuclear program is entirely benign.
Attacks against Iran's key nuclear facility in Natanz, as well as the murder of Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, its top nuclear scientist, have been blamed on Israel in recent years, according to Tehran.
Bennett has been a vocal opponent of the JCPOA, and he has warned on several occasions that whatever cash Tehran receives as a consequence of additional sanctions relief would be used to purchase weapons that may be used against Israeli citizens.
"This money will eventually end up in the hands of terrorists," he stated again on Sunday.
Bennett stated that Israel will not be bound by a renegotiated deal and will maintain the ability to strike against Iran if the accord is restored.
According to him, "we are preparing for the day after in all aspects of our lives, so that we can maintain the security of the residents of Israel on our own."
After several months of negotiations, there were signs of progress over the weekend, with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz declaring that "there was a chance" to reach an agreement that would allow sanctions to be lifted, though he cautioned that talks could still collapse during what he called "the moment of truth."
Israel considers Iran to be its archenemy, and it accuses it of supporting armed organizations in the region, including Lebanon's Hezbollah and Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
In a statement, Iran's foreign minister, Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, stated that his nation was "ready" to reach a settlement "if the other side makes the necessary political choice."
President Ebrahim Raisi of Iran, meantime, is scheduled to be in Doha, Qatar, this week on a rare overseas visit to discuss the country's intensifying attempts to resurrect the nuclear agreement.
As a result of the resumption of the Vienna talks, senior Israeli officials have stated that the Jewish state would be willing to support negotiations on a more comprehensive agreement with Iran, one that would effectively prevent the Islamic Republic from developing nuclear weapons.
The terms of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) are met with widespread hostility across the Israeli political establishment.
Benny Gantz, Israel's defense minister, said a deal with Iran would "not be the end of the road," emphasizing that inspections of Iran's nuclear facilities will continue even if a deal is reached with the Islamic Republic.
"All necessary efforts must be done to ensure that Iran never achieves nuclear threshold status," Gantz said in a statement.
"We must take steps to guarantee that Iran does not continue to enrich [uranium] at further sites, and we must step up our monitoring efforts." Iranian aggressiveness is on the rise, not just in terms of its nuclear program, but also in terms of its regional attacks."
SOURCE: NEWS AGENCIES
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