UNDATED, Nov 14: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has warned that a ‘bad deal’ with Iran on its nuclear programme could lead to war and his aides challenged US assertions to have offered Tehran only ‘modest’ relief from sanctions.
As details emerged of a Western proposal that could let Iran sell oil and gold in return for curbs on its nuclear activities, an Israeli minister said the deal would negate up to 40 per cent of the impact of sanctions, reducing pressure on Tehran to halt a programme the West says has a military motive.
Israel, which calculated the value of direct sanctions relief on offer at 15-20 billion dollars, has lobbied hard against any such deal and says the United States, its closest ally, is being misled by overtures of detente coming from Tehran.
Negotiations between Iran and six UN powers – the United States, Britain, France, Germany, Russia and China – are scheduled to resume on November 20 with both sides saying they are optimistic following talks at Geneva last weekend.
One source briefed on the discussions told Reuters that Iran was being offered a chance to sell about 3.5 billion dollars of oil over six months as well as 2-3 billion dollars of petrochemicals and 1-2 billion dollars of gold. The source, who criticised the offer, said it would also let Tehran import some 7.5 billion dollars of food and medicine plus 5 billion dollars of other goods currently barred.
Several Western officials involved in the talks said they would not discuss details while negotiations were under way.
Iran says its nuclear programme is peaceful. The United States and the European Union agree with Israel that it is seeking a nuclear bomb and imposed tough oil and financial sanctions last year that have caused serious economic harm.
Addressing Israel’s parliament in Jerusalem, Netanyahu said continued economic pressure on Iran was the best alternative to two other options, which he described as a bad deal and war.
‘I would go so far as to say that a bad deal could lead to the second, undesired option,’ he said, meaning war.
Israel, believed to be the sole nuclear power in the Middle East, has long warned it could use force to prevent Iran from gaining a nuclear weapon that would threaten the Jewish state, creating tensions with the Obama administration.
Washington says it is important to seek a negotiated solution, especially since Iran elected a relative moderate this year as president, Hassan Rouhani – a man Netanyahu told the United Nations last month was a ‘wolf in sheep’s clothing’.
NOT SO MODEST
US President Barack Obama said last week that a first phase of any deal with Iran would involve ‘some very modest relief’ from sanctions that would be easily reversible.
But Israel says the benefits to Iran would be greater than implied and Tehran would do little to curb its ambitions.
Netanyahu’s point man on Iran policy, Strategic Affairs Minister Yuval Steinitz, said yesterday the relief package offered could lower the annual cost of sanctions to Iran by up to 40 billion dollars – out of a total annual cost of 100 billion dollars.
(AGENCIES)
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