November 24, 2014 - 14:33 AMT
Israel threatens military action if Iran nuke deal unsatisfactory: report

As the deadline for nuclear talks between the P5+1 powers and Iran looms on Monday, Nov 24 Israel is warning it might use military power if a deal doesn't meet with its approval, Newsmax reports citing The Jerusalem Post.

"Current proposals guarantee the perpetuation of a crisis, backing Israel into a corner from which military force against Iran provides the only logical exit," the Post quoted Israeli government sources as saying.

The current proposal would restrict Iran's nuclear program for 10 years and cap its ability to produce weapons-grade material, the Post reported. The agreement would require Iran to give its material to Russia to be converted to peaceful use and would call for stringent inspections.

But Israel is wary of the proposal, with an Israeli official noting, "our intelligence agencies are not perfect."

The official pointed out that Iran's nuclear facilities in Natanz and Qom were not known of for years.

Critics of the deal in the United States also have pointed to Iran's past broken promises.

The Post said that members of P5+1 have indicated they may be willing to forgo a requirement that Iran fully disclose secret weapons work. The P5+1 is made up of the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Russia, China and Germany.

Israel's biggest issue with the deal is its "sunset clause," the Post reported.

"You've not dismantled the infrastructure, you've basically tried to put limits that you think are going to be monitored by inspectors and intelligence," the Israeli official told the Post. "And then after this period of time, Iran is basically free to do whatever it wants."

The Obama administration denies that charge, telling the Post by email, "following successful implementation of the final step of the comprehensive solution for its duration, the Iranian nuclear program will be treated in the same manner as that of any non-nuclear weapon state party to the NPT [Non-Proliferation Treaty] – with an emphasis on non-nuclear weapon."

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has threatened military force against Iran multiple times since 2009, and even sought authorization from his cabinet in 2011, the Post reported.

Israel has bombed suspected nuclear facilities in the past. In 1981, an Israeli airstrike took out a nuclear facility being built near Baghdad, Iraq, and in 2007 another airstrike hit a suspected nuclear site in Syria.

Netanyahu, in an interview Sunday on ABC's "This Week," reiterated his warning that Iran is working on an intercontinental ballistic missile. He has said in the past that the West should be just as concerned as Israel because Iran would not need an ICBM to hit Israel – only Europe or the United States.

"If for any reason the United States and the other powers agree to leave Iran with that capacity to break out, I think that would be a historic mistake," Netanyahu told ABC.

Meanwhile, The Associated Press reports that the United States is asking to extend the talks as Monday's deadline is approaching with little hope for a deal.