World Israel News Staff
The Iran nuclear deal is dead, a senior Israeli official said on Monday, adding that Israel had revealed intelligence to the accord’s American and U.S. partners that exposed Iranian lies throughout the recent talks to revive it.
“There’s not going to be a nuclear deal, according to the Americans and most Europeans involved. They say we have a lot of reservations about the possibility of a nuclear agreement. Everyone has their own excuse,” the senior official, who is part of Prime Minister Yair Lapid’s delegation in Germany, said.
“We gave information to the Europeans that proved that the Iranians are lying while talks are still happening,” he said, according to The Times of Israel.
According to the Israeli official, Jerusalem phased U.S. Special Envoy for Iran Robert Malley out of discussions on Iran.
“This is out of the hands of Malley’s camp by now. The decisive talks that we are doing with the U.S. are no longer in Malley’s hands,” he said.
The official, who asked to remain anonymous, also said the Europeans in particular are “afraid” that the Russians will help the Iranians evade sanctions.
“It’s time to start a strategic dialogue with the Americans and Europeans about a longer stronger agreement. But what we need now is for the Americans to put a credible military threat (in place,) and everyone to push for a better agreement.”
His words echoed those of Lapid, who said earlier that talks to revive the deal had “failed” and that it was time to come up with a new strategy for curtailing Iran’s nuclear aspirations.
“Talk does not stop evil,” said Lapid alongside German Chancellor Olaf Scholz in Berlin.
He called for the West to maintain sanctions on Iran.
“Liberal democracies must be willing and able to defend themselves. Sometimes, freedom must be defended with force.”
Lapid also said he had revealed “sensitive and relevant intelligence information” on Tehran’s nuclear program to Scholz.
