US President Obama (left) and Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu (right). Israel talking to world about Iran. Illustrative. (Photo Courtesy of Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)
The nuclear talks between the six major world powers and Iran are boiling down to one key point according to German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier: determining that Iran is officially done working towards nuclear weapons. Israel is also highly concerned with that issue, and they have a succinct list of what elements Iran needs to give up in order to prevent the Islamic Republic from getting the bomb.
In comments released by the US State Department while Steinmeier was meeting with US Secretary of State John Kerry, the German diplomat said the key question is whether Iran is “really ready to renounce every research development working in the direction of getting nuclear weapons. That is the only criterion.” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was more specific in his thoughts.
In comments released by his office, Netanyahu said of Iran, “There is no reason why it should be left with thousands of centrifuges that could enable it to enrich uranium for a nuclear bomb in a short time. Neither is there any reason why Iran should continue to develop intercontinental missiles, which could carry nuclear warheads, and thereby threaten the entire world.”
Netanyahu said they had been delivering this message to the world powers as a November 24 deadline to the Iran nuclear talks loomed. World leaders weren’t the only ones hearing Israel’s concerns. In comments promoted by his office from an interview on ABC news show “This Week”, Netanyahu pointed out that Iran’s long-term goals don’t stop with Israel.
“Why does Iran need intercontinental ballistic missiles?” asked the Israeli leader. “They don’t need those missiles to reach Israel. They need it to reach Europe and the United States, and the only thing you carry on intercontinental ballistic missiles are nuclear warheads. So I think that the issue here is not merely Israel, but everyone, the entire world.”
(By Joshua Spurlock, www.themideastupdate.com, November 23, 2014)