Monday 23 March 2015

Steinitz: World powers and Iran will reach the nuclear deal is likely bad





Yuval Steinitz, the Israeli minister of strategic affairs, said on Monday that "likely" that the world powers and Iran concluded "bad deal" about Iran's nuclear program, stressing that it will continue to pressure to tighten the terms of any agreement before the resumption of talks this week.

Steinitz told Reuters in an interview before meeting French officials in Paris: "We believe that it would be bad and incomplete agreement ... it seems very likely to happen, unfortunately."

The United States and France and four other world powers suspended talks with Iran in Switzerland on Friday to resume this week in a bid to end the deadlock over Tehran's nuclear research and the lifting of sanctions in order to reach a framework agreement before March 31.

And Israel is not involved in the negotiations, but they feel threatened by the possibility that Iran become a nuclear power.

Often described France as the bargaining power that convergence of views and the Israeli point of view, is scheduled to speak with Steinitz's chief negotiator and adviser to French President Francois Olond later on Monday.

Steinitz said, "Although we are against the agreement in general, however, until the end of it, we will refer to the gaps and difficulties."

He said that the two main issues are the number of centrifuges and any ability granted to Iran to follow up on research and development.

He added, "you will get a strong and complex agreement can retain capabilities of Iran and allowed to remain on the cusp of becoming a nuclear state.

Iran says its nuclear program has purely peaceful purposes.

He said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu earlier this month that the United States is negotiating a bad deal with Iran could lead to "a nuclear nightmare" which US President Barack Obama called for criticizing.

Steinitz said, "I do not think that the United States would abandon one of its closest allies and more democratic ally in the entire Middle East because we express our differences of opinion on Iran's agreement."