Netanyahu Emphasizes the Need to Reform the JCPOA in Phone Call with Macron

One day after Donald Trump, the President of the United States, announced four conditions for the "last time" extending the suspension of sanctions against Iran, Benjamin Netanyahu, the Prime Minister of Israel, told Emmanuel Macron, the President of France, in a phone call that "supporters of the JCPOA must reform it." At the same time, he called on the "free world to condemn the crimes of the Iranian leaders." Israeli media reported on Saturday evening, January 13, citing a statement from the Prime Minister's Office, that Mr. Netanyahu emphasized to Mr. Macron that France and other European powers insisting on the continuation of the JCPOA are obliged to correct its weaknesses. According to Wynet, the Israeli Prime Minister told Mr. Macron, "Take President Trump's statements seriously; those who insist on preserving the JCPOA should show wisdom and improve it." Last week, the Israeli Prime Minister also emphasized in a phone call with several European leaders that if the JCPOA is not improved, the U.S. intention to withdraw from this agreement is "very serious." According to Israeli media, Mr. Netanyahu also told Mr. Macron that "the free world must condemn the crimes of the ruling regime in Iran, including this government's efforts to acquire nuclear weapons, the production of ballistic missiles in violation of UN resolutions, support for terrorism, aggressive behavior in the region, and the severe repression of the Iranian people." The statement from the Israeli Prime Minister's Office does not mention Mr. Macron's responses to these remarks. Emmanuel Macron had emphasized the necessity of preserving the JCPOA in a phone conversation with Donald Trump on Thursday, January 11. The foreign ministers of France, Germany, and Britain, along with Federica Mogherini, the EU's foreign policy chief, also supported the commitment of powers to the JCPOA on Thursday. However, Mr. Trump, disregarding the requests of European powers, agreed on Friday to extend the sanctions waivers for Iran, emphasizing that it would be "for the last time," and demanded that Iran allow immediate inspections of any suspicious sites in the country. He also demanded that Iran guarantee it will never seek nuclear weapons and that Iran's commitments under the JCPOA be permanent, not for 10 years. Meanwhile, Mr. Trump's fourth condition regarding the need to include Iran's missile capabilities in the negotiations to improve the JCPOA has long been raised by Israeli leaders; in this regard, Shimon Peres, the former President of Israel, was one of the first officials in this country who, using his international stature, described Iran's missile program as unacceptable. The Israeli Prime Minister, whose agenda still prioritizes confronting Iran, has announced that he will meet with Donald Trump and also with Vladimir Putin, the President of Russia, within two months. The Israeli government has referred to the JCPOA as a "historical mistake" since its inception and has gained a new opportunity to emphasize the cancellation or improvement of this agreement since the Trump administration. On the other hand, the Iranian Foreign Ministry emphasized in response to Donald Trump's statement that Iran "will not accept any changes to the nuclear agreement, neither now nor in the future, and will not allow any connection between the JCPOA and any other issue." Iran has repeatedly stated that Israel itself possesses nuclear weapons and has no right to comment on Iran's "peaceful" nuclear program. Iran also describes its missile program as part of its defensive capabilities, which is a right of this country like other countries in the world. Nevertheless, Iran, alongside the slogan of "destroying Israel" and assisting Hamas and other organizations opposed to Israel, two years ago wrote in Hebrew on the bodies of long-range missiles it was testing, "Israel must be wiped off the face of the earth."