Israel PM says Iran must pay price for violations

Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said yesterday that “Iran must start paying a price for its violations” as world powers resumed talks to revive the 2015 nuclear talks with Iran, Haaretz newspaper reported.

Speaking during the weekly government meeting, Bennett added that Israel must use the window of opportunity between the renewed round of talks this weekend “to tell our friends in the US: Now is exactly the time to start using a different set of tools as Iran’s enrichment races on.”

Bennett called on those engaged in talks with Tehran to “stick to a firm line and make it clear to Iran that it is impossible to simultaneously enrich uranium and negotiate.”

Last Thursday, the Israeli PM demanded, during a phone call with US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, to halt the Vienna negotiations on restoring the Iranian nuclear agreement, over what he described as “Iran’s nuclear blackmail”.

The Israeli government is reported to have allocated $1.5 billion to prepare its armed forces to carry out a possible strike against Iranian nuclear sites.

Under the 2015 nuclear deal, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), some economic sanctions were lifted from Iran in exchange for strict limits on its nuclear programme.

However, the deal crumbled in 2018, when then-US President Donald Trump withdrew from it and reimposed sanctions on Iran.

READ: US, Iran pessimistic about nuclear deal talks in Vienna