WarSclerotic

Israel Hayom | Israel thinks US will make ‘reversible gestures’ to Iran.

With a further round of nuclear talks between world powers and Iran set to take place in Geneva later this week, Israeli officials think that the U.S. is prepared to offer “reversible gestures” to Iran.

Israeli officials are concerned that in the coming round of talks no agreement will be reached, but Iran will make proposals that will lead to the easing of sanctions against it. Israel’s assessment is that none of the steps that might be proposed by Iran would prevent it from becoming a “nuclear threshold state,” meaning Iran would have the capability to assemble a nuclear weapon within a short time of a decision to do so.

Israel believes that Iran will offer to halt 20% uranium enrichment for several months and convert the 20% enriched uranium it already has into nuclear reactor fuel rods. In return, Iran will ask for the easing of sanctions, Israel thinks.

If such a step is taken, it would be presented by the West as a solitary trust-building move that would not weaken the main sanctions that have been imposed on Iran. If Iran does not live up to its word, the sanctions that were eased could be put back in place.

In recent weeks, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Strategic Affairs Minister Yuval Steinitz have made efforts to prevent the easing of sanctions on Iran. On Sunday, Netanyahu said, “Pressure on the Iranian regime must be continued.”

In an interview that aired on Channel 10 on Sunday, U.S. Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs Wendy Sherman tried to allay Israeli concerns over Western talks with Iran, saying, “Israel’s security is bedrock.”

“Whatever agreement we reach [with Iran], Israel will know about, understand, [and] have consulted with us on,” Sherman said.

Meanwhile, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei delivered a belligerent speech in Tehran in which he said, “The Zionist regime is an illegitimate and bastard regime.”

“If the Americans are serious, they should slap the mouth of a senior politician,” since no country should threaten another with the use of nuclear weapons, Khamenei said. He did not specify to whom he was referring, but an Iranian news agency noted that he probably meant American businessman and philanthropist Sheldon Adelson (owner of the company that is the primary shareholder of Israel Hayom), who recently suggested that the U.S. should detonate a nuclear bomb in the Iranian desert, without harming anyone, as a means to convince to Iran to abandon its nuclear program.

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