Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said today that it would be a mistake for the US to return to the nuclear agreement with Iran. He said the evidence for this was the fact that the money that flowed to Iran after the signing of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action with China, France, Russia, the UK, the US, Germany and the EU in 2015 did not go towards benefiting the Iranian people but to spreading terrorism and conflict in Yemen, Africa and the Middle East. In the agreement, sanctions against Iran were lifted in exchange for Iran limiting its nuclear program for fifteen years. The US under President Donald Trump withdrew from the agreement in May 2018, and imposed new sanctions on the country.
On the prospect of the new administration in the US under president Joe Biden rejoining the agreement, Netanyahu said, "That would be a mistake and I hope that they won't go back to this agreement." The prime minister was speaking during a tour of the Negev. He added that he would act through every diplomatic channel to prevent any attempt by Iran to harm Israel.
Netanyahu's remark follows the statement by IDF Chief of Staff Aviv Kochavi in a speech at the Tel Aviv University Institute for National Security Studies yesterday that a return to the agreement with Iran would be "bad and wrong." Kochavi revealed that he had ordered the IDF to prepare operational plans against Iran, hinting that these plans would be designed to prevent Iran from achieving nuclear weapons.
General Kenneth McKenzie, commander of the US Central Command (CENTCOM) is due in Israel for meetings with the IDF high command, with Iran presumably on the agenda.
Published by Globes, Israel business news - en.globes.co.il - on January 28, 2021
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