Chris Lange, FISM News
Mossad chief David Barnea on Monday said Israel would not participate in the “charade” of a renewed nuclear deal between world powers and Iran.
Speaking at a counterterrorism conference held at Reichman University in Herzliya, Israel, Barnea also vowed that the spy agency will continue operations against Iran even if a deal is signed, according to a report by The Times of Israel.
Israel’s government has been vocal in its opposition to efforts by the Biden administration to restore a 2015 nuclear deal, though President Joe Biden previously assured Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid that the U.S. would not interfere with actions it takes against Iran if a nuclear deal is struck.
“The deal is based on Iranian lies. Iran has sought to build a nuclear weapon that endangers Israel’s existence. The deal will easily help them reach this goal under international legitimization,” Barnea said at the conference which marked his first public speech since he was named as the head of Mossad, the national intelligence agency of Israel, in June 2021.
“We will not take part in this charade. We will not close our eyes to the proven truth. The Iranian regime will have no immunity,” he continued, with a stark warning to Tehran that any attacks in Israel or upon Israelis abroad “will be met with a painful response against those responsible, on Iranian soil.”
The Israeli spy chief asserted that ongoing nuclear deal talks have not only failed to curtail Iran’s terror activity, but that this activity has actually increased. Barnea cited “dozens of Iranian terror attacks against Israelis and Jews abroad,” including in Columbia, Cypress, Turkey, and “many other places” that have been thwarted by the Israeli intelligence agency amid the stalled negotiations.
“In all of them, the perpetrators were caught in possession of the means of killing,” he said, also making reference to alleged Iranian plots to murder former U.S. National Security Adviser John Bolton and former U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on American soil.
Barnea was in the U.S. last week to hold talks with officials on the emerging nuclear deal. He said Monday that he “presented the consequences of signing the deal,” including the $90 billion Iran stands to gain in the first year alone under the proposed terms of a new deal, funds he said would be used to fund its terror proxies.
President Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Lapid signed a joint declaration in July to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons. Last month, however, FISM reported that the Israeli National Security Headquarters had been fervently attempting to contact the White House to set up an emergency meeting on Iran but were told that Biden was “on vacation.”
A Jerusalem Post report indicated that Lapid is hoping to meet with Biden during September’s United Nations General Assembly, which will take place in New York City from Sept. 19-26.
Indirect talks between the Biden administration and Iran’s government through the EU remain at a stalemate, with one key sticking point currently centered around a probe by International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspectors into traces of man-made uranium particles that were discovered at three undeclared sites in Iran. Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi said the investigation by the U.N.’s nuclear watchdog must stop before he will consider renewing the 2015 deal.
France, Germany, and the U.K. issued a joint statement on Saturday expressing doubt over Iran’s intentions and commitment to the nuclear deal following the latest Iranian response.
The IAEA last week reported that Iran is four weeks away from producing a nuclear bomb, having recently enriched its stock in uranium by 60%.
“Iran now can produce 25 kg (of uranium) at 90% if they want to,” a senior diplomat told Reuters. The report indicated that uranium hexafluoride, the gas enriched by centrifuges, was estimated to be at 55.6 kg (more than 121 lbs.), marking an increase of over 27 lbs. from the IAEA’s previous quarterly report.
Iran denies any intention of creating a nuclear bomb, saying its nuclear activity is for civilian use.
A senior Israeli official said in a briefing with Israeli reporters on Sunday that Israel’s government believes that no nuclear deal is going to be signed before the U.S. midterm elections on Nov. 8, according to an Axios report.