Israel’s Prime Minister Claims Iran ‘Dangerously Close’ to Obtaining Nuclear Weapons

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett says that Iran is allegedly enriching uranium at a very past pace and is close to producing nuclear weapons.

"Iran is enriching uranium at an unprecedented rate and moving dangerously close to getting their hands on nuclear weapons," Bennett said in an interview with The Telegraph on Saturday.

The Israeli prime minister called on other countries to join Israel in order to exert more pressure on Tehran. According to The Telegraph, Israel has also asked the United Kingdom to establish a mechanism to ramp up sanctions against Iran if Tehran continues with its nuclear program.

"Without pressure from the West, the Islamic regime in Iran could get their hands on a nuclear bomb very soon," he said, emphasizing that the "world must take a firm stance and tell the Islamic regime in Iran: no nukes, no sanctions. Iran’s nuclear program won’t stop until it’s stopped."

Earlier this month, Bennett presented documents claiming that Iran was allegedly feeding false information to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in order to obtain nuclear weapons capabilities. According to Bennett, Israel reserves the right to defend itself and take action to block the Iranian nuclear program should the international community fail to succeed in preventing Iran from developing nuclear weapons in the relevant time frame.

In 2015, Iran signed the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA, also known as the Iran nuclear deal) with the P5+1 group of countries (the United States, China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom - plus Germany) and the European Union. It required Iran to scale back its nuclear program and severely downgrade its uranium reserves in exchange for sanctions relief, including lifting the arms embargo five years after the deal's adoption.

In 2018, the US abandoned its conciliatory stance on Iran, withdrawing from the JCPOA and implementing hard-line policies against Tehran, prompting Iran to largely abandon its obligations under the accord.

In April 2021, the parties to the agreement, together with the United States, began negotiations to restore the nuclear deal, working in Vienna. However, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell announced in March a pause in the Vienna talks "due to external factors."