Steinitz: Israel reserves the right to act independently on Iran
Netanyahu: Tehran still getting everything, giving almost nothing
Israel reserves the right to assess the Iranian situation and make the necessary decisions independently, Intelligence Minister Yuval Steinitz said Sunday after emerging from some five hours of talks with Under Secretary of State Wendy Sherman, Washington’s top Iran negotiator. “Israel reiterated and made clear its position that an agreement with Iran must include dismantling its ability to progress toward a nuclear weapon,” Steinitz said, using code for Israel’s long-standing position that the world needs to insist that Iran dismantle all its uranium enrichment capabilities. This position clashes with that of the world powers currently negotiating with Iran, which are now seemingly willing to allow Iran some enrichment capability. Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu made the same point publicly at the opening of the weekly cabinet meeting, saying he is concerned Iran believes it can “realize its plan to be a nuclear threshold state, with an enrichment capability that it thinks cannot be touched, and with the ability to develop both nuclear weapons and intercontinental missiles, which it is continuing to work on unhindered.” “This combination of enrichment, weapons, and launch capability means that Iran is, in effect, receiving everything and giving almost nothing,” he said. “That is the current situation.” Netanyahu said that the long-term agreement now being negotiated between the P5+1 (the US, Russia, China, France, Britain ,and Germany) and Iran cannot be allowed to render permanent this current state of affairs. The long-term agreement, he said, must “dismantle the Iranian ability to either produce or launch nuclear weapons, and this has yet to be achieved, and without the insistence of the major powers, it will not be achieved.” Sherman, who led Washington’s delegation to the recent talks in Vienna, briefed Steinitz and National Security Council head Yossi Cohen and staff members from various other government and intelligence agencies on the Vienna talks. Steinitz said the dialogue with Sherman dealt in “great detail” with diplomatic, intelligence, and technical aspects of the Iranian nuclear program, and is part of Israel’s ongoing strategic dialogue with the US. Sherman has made it a practice of coming to Jerusalem after every round of talks with the Iranians to immediately brief Israel. She made clear Saturday night, however, that she does not agree with Israel’s position that Iran must not be allowed any uranium enrichment capability, saying Iran might be allowed a “limited” nuclear program “that addresses practical needs.” “I would like there to be zero enrichment,” she said. “I would like there to be no facilities, I would like there not to be an indigenous program. I would like many things in life. But that does not mean I will get them.” Sherman will this week also be briefing officials in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, states which are as concerned as Israel at the prospect of Iran gaining nuclear capability. Over the last two weeks Netanyahu has once again stepped up the rhetoric against Iran’s nuclear program, saying that the country has not altered any of its aggressive policies. This is expected to be the top item on his agenda when he is scheduled to meet with US President Barack Obama in Washington next Monday.