After having supported the withdrawal of the American president at the time, Donald Trump, from the Iranian nuclear agreement of 2015 which he considered too limited, Israel has similarly come out against the reintroduction desired by the current American administration.
On Saturday, Britain, France and Germany said they had “serious doubts” about Iran’s intentions after it tried to link a resumption of the deal with the closure of watchdog investigations. of the UN on the traces of uranium in three of its nuclear sites.
Thran described the European declaration as “unconstructive”.
“At this time, it looks like a nuclear deal with Iran will not be signed, at least until after the (US) midterm elections,” the Israeli official told reporters on condition of anonymity. .
Some Israeli commentators saw the remark as an anticipation of US President Joe Biden’s reluctance to strike a deal close enough to the vote for his Republican rivals to use in their domestic campaigns against his Democratic party.
While informing the Israeli cabinet Sunday, the Prime Minister Yair Lapid thanked the European powers “for their frank position”.
“Israel is waging a successful diplomatic campaign to stop the nuclear deal and prevent the lifting of sanctions against Iran,” he said. “It’s not over yet. The road is long. But there are encouraging signs.”
Iran, which denies wanting to acquire nuclear weapons, has, since the withdrawal of the United States, violated the 2015 agreement by intensifying the enrichment of uranium, a process which can create fuel for the term bombs.
Israel is not a party to the talks in Vienna. But his concerns about Iran and his threats to take military action against his sworn enemy if he deems diplomacy a dead end are keeping Western capitals on their toes.