Israel’s Mossad Chief David Barnea said that the nuclear deal with Iran ‘’will cause a strategic disaster,’’ because it will facilitate Iranian’s long-lasting efforts to obtain a bomb.
He reportedly criticized the United States for “rushing into an agreement that is a complete lie,” referring to the revivial of the 2015 nuclear deal with Tehran, and said that Israel has a right to defend itself.
In briefings held with Prime Minister Yair Lapid and others, Barnea was quoted by the Israeli media as saying that the deal will infuse Iran’s purse with billions of dollars that will be diverted to fund terrorist groups including the Lebanon based Hezbollah, the Hamas and the Islamic Jihad, as well as other proxies and will pose a challenge for both the U.S. and Israel.
He described the deal as worst than its 2015 predecessor because now, there is more information about Iran’s military capabilities. “We are copy-pasting the 2015 agreement, and the only thing that remains the same since then is the text of the agreement,” Barnea warned. “Everything else has changed. The world has changed. The Iranians have developed their own advanced centrifuges and the threats and technologies have changed.”
“The agreement is a bad deal that gives Iran a license to manufacture a bomb,” he said.
“The Mossad is committed to preventing Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons. The agreement does not apply to Israel, nor does the freedom of action to continue operating,” he said.
Earlier this week, the Biden administration issued its response to an EU-drafted final offer for reviving the Iran’s 2015 nuclear deal — known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) — with Western powers, following more than 16 months of indirect talks. The JCPOA offered sanctions relief to Iran in exchange for limits on its nuclear program.