Samples of combat missiles against the backdrop of a portrait of Iran's top leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. File photoTEL AVIV, Aug 27The planned conclusion of the JCPOA will not stop Iran from developing nuclear weapons, Jewish Defense Minister Benny Gantz said at a meeting with the heads of leading think tanks in Washington during his visit to the United States, the minister's press office said. «Iran has acquired knowledge, infrastructure and capabilities, and it is irreversible. This will allow Iran to further expand its nuclear program during the period of the agreement, which will have fewer restrictions. Iran will be able to obtain nuclear weapons when said agreement expires in 2031,» Gantz said at the meeting. Gantz also opined, that at the improved Fordow site, Iran can enrich uranium up to 90% within a few weeks. According to the minister, Iran has thousands of advanced centrifuges that allow it to do this, and limits the IAEA's control over these facilities. According to Gantz, the US and Israel are continuing dialogue on the nuclear agreement with Tehran. The Israeli Defense Minister also accused Iran of financing terrorist groups operating in the Middle East region.» Iran provides more than a billion dollars to its proxies in Syria, Iraq, Lebanon, Yemen and Gaza. The Hezbollah group, which harms Lebanon and threatens Israel, receives more than half a billion dollars a year. Iran also provides more than $100 million a year to Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad in Gaza. Thus, regardless of future scenarios, it is necessary to take action against Iranian puppets that threaten the entire Middle East region,» the minister said.
UN hopes JCPOA parties reach agreement on nuclear dealGantz began a visit to the US on Thursday, during which he held meetings at CENTCOM, and on Friday, at a meeting with US national security adviser Jake Sullivan, he presented measures to prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons, discussed also strengthening defense cooperation between the United States and Israel. In 2015, the United Kingdom, Germany, China, Russia, the United States, France and Iran concluded a nuclear deal — the JCPOA on the Iranian nuclear program, which involved the lifting of sanctions in exchange for limiting Iran's nuclear program. In May 2018, the United States under Donald Trump withdrew from the JCPOA and reinstated sanctions against Tehran. In response, Iran announced a phased reduction in its obligations under the agreement, abandoning restrictions on nuclear research, centrifuges and the level of uranium enrichment. Negotiations were held in Vienna to renew the JCPOA and lift Washington's sanctions against Tehran. In December 2021, the parties reached an agreement on two draft agreements, in which the European side included the positions of Iran. Iranian spokesman Bagheri Kyani said the talks were going well, but US State Department spokesman Ned Price assessed the progress in Vienna as modest, urging Tehran to take the issue seriously. With the return of the parties to their capitals at the end of March, the negotiations were suspended. The Iranian Foreign Ministry blamed the US administration for this. The next round of JCPOA talks took place in Doha on June 29-30.
