Netanyahu brands pact a ‘historic mistake’

JERUSALEM, Israel (AP) — Having lost its battle to stop the international deal reached this week on Iran’s nuclear programme, Israeli officials are already picking up the pieces and planning a fight to shape a final agreement that negotiators hope to reach in six months.

Israeli officials say the final deal must go beyond freezing Iran’s programme and roll back the achievements they say have made the Islamic Republic a threshold weapons state. From Israel’s perspective, the world powers must show they have not been duped by Iran’s campaign of amiability and still have the stomach to press on with crippling sanctions if needed.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who believes Iran is determined to produce a nuclear bomb, harshly condemned Sunday’s agreement between Iran and six world powers as a “historic mistake” and said Israel was not bound by the deal.

In exchange for some relief from economic sanctions, Iran agreed to curb most of its nuclear activities while negotiations on a final agreement proceed during the next six months. But most of its nuclear infrastructure, including its ability to enrich uranium, a key step in making bombs, remains intact.

Yesterday, Netanyahu said he would not give up. Speaking to members of his Likud Party, the Israeli leader said he would dispatch his national security adviser, Yossi Cohen, to Washington in the coming days to co-ordinate the next move with the Americans.

“This permanent agreement has to lead to one result: dismantling the Iranian nuclear military capability,” he said, claiming that just this week Iran repeated its vow to destroy Israel. “And I repeat here my commitment to prevent them from getting the ability to do this.”

The initial deal with Iran has raised tensions between Israel and the US, and news that the Americans had secretly negotiated much of the agreement threatened to deepen those differences. Israeli officials declined to comment.

Late Sunday, the White House said President Barack Obama had phoned Netanyahu to discuss the deal with Iran, with the two leaders reaffirming “their shared goal of preventing Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon”.

Obama said he understood Netanyahu’s scepticism and promised to “consult closely” with Israel as the talks move forward on a comprehensive solution that would “resolve the international community’s concerns regarding Iran’s nuclear programme”, according to the White House.

The differences between the allies stem in part from different perceptions on the extent of the Iranian threat.

To Israel, a nuclear-armed Iran threatens its very survival. Israel points to hostile Iranian rhetoric referring to Israel’s destruction, Iran’s support for militant Arab groups along Israel’s borders, and Iran’s development of long-range missiles capable of reaching the Jewish state.

For Washington, Iran is a distant, albeit pressing, issue, one of a plethora of difficult challenges it is facing at home and abroad. While Obama has repeatedly said he will not allow Iran to develop a nuclear bomb, Israel says Iran should not be allowed to even get close to that point.

Israeli President Benjamin Netanyahu condemned Sunday’s agreement between Iran and six world powers as a “historic mistake” and said Israel was not bound by the deal.

TEHRAN, Iran — Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani speaks during a news briefing — after Iran and world powers agreed in Geneva to a deal over Iran’s nuclear programme — at the Presidency compound in Tehran on Sunday. (PHOTOS: AP)