Yair Lapid: “Sanctions must not be lifted from Iran”

by time news

“Iran must be threatened with a real military threat,” was the message with which Foreign Minister Yair Lapid ended a two-day visit to London and Paris last night (Tuesday), in parallel with the opening of another round of talks in Vienna between Iranian representatives and powers.

The message Israel is trying to convey is that the Iranians came to the talks – which resumed after a five-month hiatus – only to remove US sanctions from them, and with no real intention to stop or slow down their progress towards a military nuclear program.

Discussions did begin on the issue of lifting the sanctions, and the position presented by the head of the Iranian delegation, Ali Bagri-Kani, also demanded an American commitment that the sanctions on their behalf would not be imposed on them again in the future. As in previous rounds, this time too the American representatives are sitting outside the room, as the Iranians refuse to have direct negotiations with them.

In a message issued this week in parallel with the opening of talks, Prime Minister Bennett said that Iran has a clear goal: “To remove the sanctions, in exchange for almost nothing. Not only will Iran maintain its nuclear program – they will get paid for it. I call on our allies around the world: Do not succumb to nuclear blackmail Of Iran. “

At the end of a meeting yesterday with French President Emmanuel Macron at the Elysee Palace, Lapid reiterated, according to his people, the Israeli position that Iran is only trying to pull time to move forward with its nuclear program, that there is an immediate need to return sanctions imposed on Iran by the powers and removed. A “Plan B” must be formulated as a matter of urgency – an action plan that will outline how to act in the rather predictable case in which the talks will fail and will not lead to the formation of a renewed agreement. “Israel’s position is firm: sanctions must not be lifted from Iran. Sanctions must be tightened, a real military threat must be placed on Iran because only that will prevent it from continuing its nuclear race. The race has not stopped here and the race has not stopped in talks in Vienna. “Together with Defense Minister Ganz who is going to Washington next week, we will continue to work so that the world fully understands the Iranian threat.”

On Monday, after meeting with Johnson, who relative to other European leaders understands more about the correctness of the Israeli position, Lapid told him that “our friendship was recently expressed in the government’s decision to declare Hamas a terrorist organization. “Nuclear weapons, at all costs. Israel will always defend itself, but we know we are not alone.”

Journalist Stephanie Lichtenstein, who is covering the progress of the talks in Vienna, wrote on her Twitter account yesterday that she asked a senior European diplomat what would happen if the reports that Iran was progressing towards 90 percent uranium enrichment turned out to be true. His response was that such enrichment, “would seriously jeopardize the process.” But she said the same diplomat was also quick to object even to this not-very-significant threat, saying that reports of 90 percent enrichment had not been approved, and that there was no point in creating a “self-fulfilling crisis.” Published yesterday in “Walla!” Israel has provided the United States with information that Iran has taken technical steps to prepare for 90 percent uranium enrichment.

Russia’s representative for the talks, Michael Oliynov, wrote on his Twitter account yesterday that the United States had confirmed its readiness to remove all sanctions that were inconsistent with the agreement, in exchange for Iran’s return to full compliance with it. ” Oliynov wrote.

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