Israeli Minister of Intelligence: Countries Made Mistakes During Initial Geneva Agreement

In the margins of the Munich Security Conference, Hanna Kavyani, a reporter for Radio Farda, conducted an interview with Yuval Steinitz, the Israeli Minister of Intelligence. In this interview, Mr. Steinitz responded to the statement that "you are calling for the dismantling of Iran's nuclear program while your allies have accepted that Iran has a limited enrichment program," stating: "We are very sorry. We think that countries made a mistake at the time of reaching the initial Geneva agreement. Initially, we heard the world talking about a symbolic enrichment program for Iran with a few hundred limited centrifuges, which we did not like either; but now we see discussions about thousands of centrifuges. This could mean that Iran remains a country on the verge of acquiring nuclear weapons, and we consider this dangerous." According to Mr. Steinitz, "the world must be more careful, and an agreement with Iran must be reached that this country is not just a few months away from acquiring a bomb, but that this distance should be several years." Furthermore, the Israeli Minister of Intelligence commented on what Israel would do if Iran and the six countries reach an agreement that does not meet Israel's demands, saying: "It does not seem that an agreement is currently in place, and if they agree on one of the issues, it does not mean a complete agreement. However, if an agreement is reached that is not desirable for us, we will talk about it." The Israeli Minister of Intelligence further stated: "As Prime Minister Netanyahu has said, Israel will not accept Iran producing nuclear weapons. Because the Iranian leader, Ayatollah Khamenei, talks about the destruction of Israel and even another Holocaust, and that such extremists like Khamenei and Rouhani obtaining nuclear weapons is unacceptable to us and threatens our existence." Mr. Steinitz concluded the interview with Radio Farda by adding: "We still say that reaching an agreement with Iran on the nuclear program is not enough, and Tehran must change its behavior in the Middle East. Iran should not give so much money and weapons to various countries. The weapons and money that belong to the people of Iran." These statements by the Israeli Minister of Intelligence come at a time when the Islamic Republic of Iran has always emphasized the peaceful use of nuclear energy and Iranian officials have stated that they are not seeking to acquire nuclear weapons.