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Israel says framework deal with Iran may brew nuclear risk

Xinhua, April 3, 2015 Adjust font size:

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Friday any framework agreement between Iran and the international community must commit to recognising Israel's right to exist.

"Israel demands that any final agreement with Iran will include a clear and unambiguous Iranian commitment of Israel's right to exist," the prime minister said.

"Israel will not accept an agreement which allows a country that vows to annihilate us to develop nuclear weapons," the Israeli leader said, stressing that "I want to make it clear to all that the survival of Israel is non-negotiable."

Netanyahu issued the statement following a three-hour meeting with members of his outgoing cabinet, which unanimously objected to the proposed deal presented in Lausanne Thursday evening.

"The deal would pose a grave danger to the region and to the world and would threaten the very survival of the state of Israel," said Netanyahu, a known hardliner regarding Iran and its nuclear ambitions.

"The deal would legitimize Iran's illegal nuclear program," the Israeli prime minister said.

"It would leave Iran with a vast nuclear infrastructure and lift sanctions almost immediately at the same time that Iran is stepping its aggression and terror in the region," he said, referring to Iran's alleged support of militant groups like Hezbollah in Lebanon, the Houthi rebels in Yemen and Hamas in Gaza.

The Israeli prime minister also said on Friday the plan would enable Iran to have enough enrichment capacities to develop nuclear bombs in less than a year and would allow Iran at the same time to recover financially, what he charged would allow it to "propel its aggression and terrorism throughout the Middle East."

The prime minister expressed his stern objection to the framework agreement in an overnight telephone conversation with U.S. President Barack Obama on Thursday, saying a deal based on the framework agreement would "increase the risks of nuclear proliferation in the region and the risks of horrific war." Endit