Merkel Warns of 'War in the Middle East if JCPOA is Abrogated'

An Israeli media outlet revealed that the German Chancellor warned Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during their last meeting that his insistence on abrogating the JCPOA could lead to war in the Middle East. Channel 10 of Israeli television reported on Tuesday evening, March 19, that Angela Merkel issued this warning during her meeting two months ago with Netanyahu at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. According to the report, Merkel cautioned Netanyahu about the 'consequences of his actions in the coming weeks regarding the JCPOA,' stating that if Donald Trump, the President of the United States, withdraws from the JCPOA, this global agreement would face collapse and could lead to war in the region. Channel 10 claimed that its report was based on statements from 'a senior German official familiar with the Merkel-Netanyahu negotiations,' but did not name the diplomat. The report adds that during the Davos meeting, which occurred less than two weeks after Trump's statement regarding the need for fundamental changes to the JCPOA, Netanyahu presented all his arguments but was met with Merkel's response, 'What is your alternative?' According to this German official, Merkel told Netanyahu that 'in the absence of the JCPOA, military options are back on the table.' The report further states that Merkel emphasized that 'with the U.S. withdrawal from the JCPOA, Western countries will be divided into two camps, and only Iran and Vladimir Putin, the President of Russia, will benefit from such a scenario.' The German official stated that Merkel believes that the U.S. exit from the JCPOA would damage global trust in the West, and in that case, 'we will no longer be able to conclude diplomatic agreements with other troublesome governments in the world.' Merkel's reference to 'other troublesome governments' apparently pertains to North Korea. The report from Channel 10 regarding the details of the two-month-old meeting between the Israeli Prime Minister and the German Chancellor comes as Netanyahu also congratulated Merkel on Tuesday in a phone call for her success in forming a new government in Germany, and in a separate phone call with Germany's new foreign minister, confirmed that the new minister will visit Israel 'very soon.' Additionally, Israeli media reported that Netanyahu on Tuesday congratulated Mike Pompeo, the head of the CIA, on Trump's decision to appoint him as the U.S. Secretary of State, emphasizing that Israel and the U.S. face significant common challenges and that his appointment will make cooperation between Israel and the U.S. more effective. The Israeli Prime Minister's Office stated in a statement regarding Channel 10's report that Netanyahu 'emphasizes the vital security interests of Israel in every meeting and will continue this approach, believing that the agreement with Iran must either be fundamentally revised or canceled.' The statement from the Prime Minister's Office added that 'the nuclear agreement with Iran, in its current form, is leading Iran towards a nuclear arsenal.' Netanyahu, on Sunday of this week, reported to his cabinet on his meeting last week with Trump at the White House, stating that the information he received from the U.S. President during a meeting with the Secretaries of State, Defense, National Security Advisor, and White House Chief of Staff 'strongly suggests that the U.S. will withdraw from the JCPOA.' With only 51 days remaining until Trump's deadline for 'fixing the flaws' of the JCPOA, Iranian officials have recently emphasized that Tehran will not agree to renegotiate the JCPOA and rejects the addition of amendments to it. Abbas Araqchi, Iran's Deputy Foreign Minister, warned last Thursday, one day before the 11th meeting of the Joint Commission on the JCPOA in Vienna, on his Twitter account that if the U.S. withdraws from the JCPOA, Iran will also exit it. In recent days, the European Union has proposed serious pressure on Iran to persuade the U.S. to remain in the JCPOA. American diplomats, along with representatives from Germany, France, and Britain, have been exploring ways to 'fix the flaws' of the JCPOA in meetings in London, Paris, and Berlin in recent weeks. Channel 10 reported on Tuesday, citing 'a European diplomat,' that despite significant differences between the U.S. and the three Western countries in negotiations in the aforementioned cities, 'the gap in their positions is narrowing to satisfy Donald Trump.' The four conditions that Trump has set for inclusion in the JCPOA are as follows: Iran's agreement to allow inspections of any site requested by international inspectors, guarantees from Iran that it will never come close to a nuclear weapon, that the provisions of the JCPOA have no expiration date, and that in the event of Iran's violation of any of the clauses, U.S. nuclear sanctions will automatically be reinstated, and Iran's ballistic missile program and nuclear weapons issue will be treated as one, with the development and testing of Iran's missiles subject to severe sanctions. Iranian officials two weeks ago emphasized during a meeting with Jean-Yves Le Drian, France's Foreign Minister, during his visit to Tehran, that the Islamic Republic of Iran will not agree to missile negotiations.