Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu denounced a proposed international deal on Iran’s nuclear program Friday, saying it would leave Iran able to build nuclear bombs “in a few years” and threaten Israel’s existence.
“Such a deal does not block Iran’s path to the bomb. Such a deal paves Iran’s path to the bomb,” he said.
Netanyahu’s comments came a day after six world powers led by the United States announced a framework deal with Iran meant to limit its nuclear program.
Iran would reduce its stockpile of low-enriched uranium by 98% and significantly scale back its number of installed centrifuges, according to the plan. In exchange, the United States and the European Union would lift sanctions that have crippled the country’s economy.
The parties have until June 30 to establish a final agreement.
Netanyahu said his Cabinet met Friday and strongly opposed the plan.
“The deal would not shut down a single nuclear facility in Iran, would not destroy a single centrifuge in Iran and will not stop R&D (research and development) on Iran’s advanced centrifuges.
“On the contrary, the deal would legitimize Iran’s illegal nuclear program. It would leave Iran with a vast nuclear infrastructure.”
In a “few years,” Netanyahu said, “the deal would remove restrictions on Iran’s nuclear program, enabling Iran to have a massive enrichment capacity that it could use to produce many nuclear bombs within a matter of months.”
As part of the proposed deal, Iran’s centrifuges would enrich uranium to only 3.67% — enough for civil use to power parts of the country, but not enough to build a nuclear bomb. That agreement would last 15 years.
“This deal would pose a grave danger to the region and to the world and would threaten the very survival of the state of Israel,” Netanyahu said.
