Israel urges Trump to withdraw from Iran nuclear weapons deal
● Britain wants agreement to stay ● Netanyahu says Tehran was lying
Britain’s foreign minister Boris Johnson has claimed the alleged new evidence presented by Israel about Iranian nuclear intentions showed why the international nuclear deal with Iran must remain in place.
Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu released information late Monday that he said proved Iran lied about not having a nuclear weapons programme in the past.
Mr Netanyahu said he hoped the information would persuade the United States and other countries to withdraw from the 2015 international nuclear deal with Iran later this month.
But Mr Johnson said the presentation “underlines the importance” of keeping the deal’s constraints on Iran in place. He said the deal was not based on trust but on inspections.
“The Iran nuclear deal is not based on trust about Iran’s intentions, rather it is based on tough verification,” he said.
Mr Netanyahu’s latest accusations about Iran’s past nuclear activities received a warm welcome in Washington, but a far cooler reception in Europe, deepening divisions among Western allies.
He unveiled what he said was a “half tonne” of Iranian nuclear documents he said were illicitly seized by Israeli intelligence.
Mr Netanyahu said the documents provided evidence that Iran attempted to develop a nuclear bomb in the previous decade, especially before 2003.
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said America would discuss Israel’s newest purported evidence with the other global powers that negotiated the 2015 nuclear deal.
The UN nuclear agency said it considered the matter of whether Iran had previously pursued nuclear weapons to be “closed”.
Mr Netanyahu has been an outspoken critic of the deal, which offered Iran relief from crippling international sanctions in exchange for curbs on its nuclear programme. He said the deal would not prevent Iran – Israel’s most bitter enemy – from reaching a nuclear weapons capability.
After clashing with former US president Barack Obama when the deal was negotiated, Mr Netanyahu has found a close ally in Mr Trump, who has called the agreement “the worst deal ever”. Mr Trump has signalled he will withdraw from the agreement by 12 May if it is not renegotiated and changed.
Mr Netanyahu’s presentation late Monday, delivered in English on live TV and making heavy use of visual aids, appeared to be aimed at swayingglobal opinion ahead of mr Trump’s decision.
Speaking on Fox News yesterday, Mr Netanyahu said Israel had obtained the documents in February and shared all of the information with the US. He said the trove of documents showed Iran was “trying to bamboozle the entire world”. Mr Pompeo, who was returning to the US after his first official visit to the Middle East, said he had discussed the material with Mr Netanyahu during a stop in Israel this week and would raise the matter with European allies.
“What this means is the deal was not constructed on a foundation of good faith or transparency,” he said. “It was built on Iran’s lies.”