Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid expressed concern Sunday amid reports the US and other Western powers are preparing to finalize a new nuclear deal with Iran in the coming weeks.
Speaking at a press conference Sunday afternoon, Lapid reiterated Israel’s demand that the US offer a “credible military threat” against Tehran to force Iran to accept terms the Islamic republic has thus far refused to consider.
The West, Lapid said, must “get Iran to sign a much better agreement, what the Americans themselves called ‘’longer and stronger’.”
“Such an agreement can only be reached with a credible military threat, so the Iranians see they will have to pay a heavy price for their recalcitrance.”
Specifically, Lapid lamented the sunset clause included in the original nuclear deal, a feature likely to be included in the new agreement, under which limits to Iran’s uranium enrichment levels will begin to be lifted in 2025.
A satisfactory agreement “would not have an end date,” Lapid said, adding that the deal should have “tighter” oversight and include restrictions on Tehran’s ballistic missile program.
Lapid also argued that the deal should bar Iran from support terrorist organizations.
Despite his misgivings regarding the deal itself, Lapid avoided any criticism of the Biden administration for its support of the current format of talks in Vienna, and instead blamed former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, currently Israel’s Opposition Leader.
“To this day, we are paying for the damage caused by Netanyahu’s address to Congress,” Lapid said, referring to then-Prime Minister Netanyahu’s March 3rd 2015 speech attacking the planned deal with Iran.
“As a result of it, the American government ended its dialogue with us and barred Israel from presenting changes to the deal.”
“We behaved differently, and in the past few months we have scored more than a few victories with the Americans and with other allies. President Biden, thanks to our intense dialogue together, decided not to lift the sanctions on the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.”
Last Friday, Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz met with US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan in Washington to discuss the new agreement with Iran.
Gantz told Sullivan the US must maintain a military option vis-à-vis Iran, regardless of the outcome of the talks in Vienna.
