Netanyahu: ‘Europe might ignore Iran threat until nuclear missiles hit’

ISRAELIsrael’s prime minister has said the European Union might not wake up to the threat of Iran “until Iranian nuclear missiles fall on European soil”. Mr Netanyahu likened Europe’s approach to Iran’s recent breaches of a 2015 deal limiting its nuclear programme to the appeasement of Nazi Germany.

He spoke after EU foreign ministers said the breaches were not significant. Iran says they are a response to reinstated US sanctions, but insists it is not trying to build nuclear weapons. It has threatened to return to the situation before the nuclear deal was agreed unless Europe does more to mitigate the effects of the sanctions. They have caused its oil exports to collapse and its economy to plunge into recession.

The EU has set up a mechanism for facilitating legitimate trade without direct financial transactions. However, Iran has said it does not meet its needs. The global nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), confirmed last week that Iran was not complying with another key commitment on uranium enrichment. Inspectors verified that the country had begun enriching uranium to 4.5% concentration above the 3.67% limit set by the nuclear deal. They also verified that Iran’s stockpile of lowenriched uranium had continued to grow since a 300kg (660lb) cap was exceeded on 1 July.

Lowenriched uranium, which has a 35% concentration, can be used to produce fuel for nuclear power plants. Weapons-grade uranium is 90% enriched or more. Experts say the breach of the stockpile limit does not pose a near-term proliferation risk, but that enriching uranium to a higher concentration will begin to shorten Iran’s socalled “break-out time” - the time required for it to produce enough fissile material for a bomb.