Netanyahu: What's happening in Iran talks is a breakdown, not a breakthrough
At weekly cabinet meeting, prime minister says that deal emerging with Iran is worse than deal that led to North Korea obtaining an arsenal of nuclear weapons.
By JPOST.COM STAFFUpdated: JULY 5, 2015 15:06Netanyahu: What's happening in Iran talks is a breakdown, not a breakthrough
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday expressed alarm at the emerging nuclear deal between western powers and Iran currently taking place in Vienna.Speaking at the opening of the weekly cabinet meeting, Netanyahu said that "what's coming out of the nuclear talks in Vienna is not a breakthrough, it's a breakdown."Netanyahu said that the world powers were conceding more and more with each passing day.The emerging deal "will pave Iran's way to produce the cores of many atomic bombs and it will also flood Iran with hundreds of millions of dollars that will serve it in its aggression and its mission of terror in the region and the world," the prime minister warned.Michael Wilner reports on nuclear talks from ViennaNetanyahu claimed that the emerging deal with Iran was worse than the nuclear deal that had been signed with North Korea which led to Pyongyang obtaining an arsenal of nuclear weapons."However, here we are talking about a very big conventional and non-conventional threat against Israel, against the countries of the region and against the world," he stated.Iran and world powers made progress on future sanctions relief for Iran in marathon nuclear talks on Saturday, but remained divided on issues such as lifting United Nations sanctions and the development of advanced centrifuges.Diplomats close to the negotiations said they had tentative agreement on a mechanism for suspending US and European Union sanctions on Iran.But the six powers had yet to agree on a United Nations Security Council resolution that would lift UN sanctions and establish a means of re-imposing them in case of Iranian non-compliance with a future agreement."We still haven't sorted a Security Council resolution," a diplomat close to the talks told Reuters. "We don't have Iran on board yet."
Senior Iranian and Western diplomats echoed the remarks. Some of the toughest disputes, including the question of easing UN sanctions, were likely to be left for foreign ministers when they arrived in the Austrian capital on Sunday, officials said."Even if and when issues get resolved at an experts level, there will remain some open issues that can only be decided by ministers," a senior US official told reporters.Iran is in talks with the United States, Britain, China, France, Germany and Russia on an agreement to curtail its nuclear program for at least a decade in exchange for relief from economic sanctions.The negotiators missed a June 30 deadline for a final agreement, but have given themselves until July 7. Foreign ministers not in Vienna are expected to rejoin their counterparts in a final push for a deal beginning on Sunday.Reuters contributed to this report.