Netanyahu Accuses Global Powers of Conceding to Tehran

Benjamin Netanyahu, the Prime Minister of Israel, on Sunday, June 24, accused the negotiating countries with the Islamic Republic of conceding to Tehran in order to reach a comprehensive agreement by the July deadline. According to Reuters, Netanyahu stated in a cabinet meeting, "Unfortunately, the reports we receive indicate that global powers are increasingly conceding to Tehran in the face of Iran's stubbornness and obstinacy." Netanyahu did not refer to the details of the reports he received. He claimed that the agreement currently being negotiated between Iran and the 1+5 group would ultimately not prevent Iran from acquiring the capability to build a nuclear bomb. This is not the first time Netanyahu has criticized the comprehensive agreement that global powers and the Islamic Republic are striving for, labeling it a "bad deal." On Tuesday, June 18, he also opposed a "bad" nuclear agreement between Iran and global powers as negotiations approached their final stages. According to Netanyahu, if the final agreement between Iran and the 1+5 countries is based on the Lausanne understanding, Iran would still be able to have enough enriched uranium to produce several nuclear bombs. Netanyahu also stated that the comprehensive agreement would not only fail to prevent Iran from acquiring bomb-making capabilities but would also lead to the suspension of international sanctions, which would enable Tehran to continue financing its "militant allies in the region." Yuval Steinitz, who is responsible for Iran's nuclear file in Netanyahu's cabinet, told Reuters that "if this agreement is supposed to halt Iran's nuclear program for years, Israel sees no reason why global powers should allow Iran to research and develop centrifuges." In this context, Steinitz had previously stated that Iran's refusal to allow inspections of its "suspect military sites" renders the monitoring clause in the Additional Protocol "worthless." According to this Israeli official, if International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspectors cannot inspect "suspect sites" in Iran, then what has been achieved with Iran is not an agreement but rather a "deception and trickery." The issue of access to Iran's military facilities under the Additional Protocol of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) has led to a wave of confrontation between Iran's nuclear negotiating team and their domestic opponents. The latest round of negotiations between Iran and the 1+5 group to reach a final agreement began in 2013 with the rise of Hassan Rouhani's government, and now the three-month deadline set by Iran and the six global powers to draft and finalize the comprehensive agreement is rapidly approaching its end, with only two weeks remaining.