Off the wire
• First Arab woman to lead UN Council maps ambitious Mideast, women, youth program  • Spotlight: Obama says "historic" preliminary deal will prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear bomb  • Roundup: 19 people killed in Egypt's Sinai attacks  • Nearly 70 houses damaged by gas explosions in Albania  • More suspects in Tunisia museum attack arrested  • UN chief congratulates all sides on achieving political framework in nuke talks  • Roundup: World major powers, Iran reach common solutions in nuke talks  • Two New York women charged with conspiracy to use weapon of mass destruction  • SNCF to sponsor Euro 2016  • Corn, wheat higher, soybeans lower on soft export data  
You are here: 　 Home

Int'l community "succumbs to Iranian dictates" in framework agreement: Israeli officials

Xinhua, April 3, 2015 Adjust font size:

Israeli officials said overnight Thursday that the framework agreement between Iran and the international community was a "historic mistake" which would make the world more dangerous.

The Israeli officials, who asked to remain anonymous, said that with this framework agreement, the P5+1 countries (the U.S., the U.K., Germany, China, Russia and France) have "succumbed to Iranian dictates," adding that it "will not lead to a peaceful nuclear program, but for war purposes."

"This is a bad framework that will lead to a bad and dangerous agreement," senior officials in Jerusalem told Xinhua. "If the final agreement is based on these lines, it would be a historic mistake, legitimizing Iran's nuclear program that aims to produce nuclear bombs," they added.

They added that the parameters announced in a press conference in Lausanne earlier would keep Iran with "extensive nuclear capabilities," able to continue to enrich uranium, research and develop centrifuges, and keep the underground Furdow facility operating.

"Whereas Iran will receive a complete removal of the sanctions, it's not required to stop its aggression in the region," they concluded, saying Israel's alternative is a different deal which would "significantly dismantle" Iran's nuclear infrastructure and require it to shake off its "aggression and terrorism in the region."

The P5+1 countries announced in Switzerland they reached a framework agreement, originally due on March 31, after a week of intense negotiations. The deadline for reaching a final agreement, based on the framework, is June 30.

The European Union's foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini said at the press conference in Switzerland that "a decisive step" has been achieved.

Earlier on Thursday evening, Israel's Intelligence Minister Yuval Steinitz said the framework agreement is "far from being real" and said Israel will "continue its efforts in the hopes of preventing a bad deal."

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said prior to the press conference that any deal "must significantly roll back Iran's nuclear capabilities and stop its terrorism and aggression."

According to the framework agreement presented, the final agreement would be in effect for 10 to 15 years in which there would be strict oversight by the international community over the Iranian nuclear program.

It specifies that Iran would be able to keep 6,104 out of 19,000 centrifuges up and running, 5,000 of which at the Natanz enrichment facility, while others will be collected by the International Atomic Energy Agency. One thousand remaining centrifuges would be used for physical research means at the Furdow facility.

Furthermore, Iran's stockpile of low-level enriched uranium would be diluted to a level not sufficient to manufacture nuclear weapons.

Seeing the terms will be fulfilled, the international community would gradually lift the debilitating economic sanctions off from the Islamic Republic and the United Nations Security Council would overwrite previous decisions imposing the sanctions. Endit