Israeli PM warns against ‘Nuclear Iran’

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office announced that he will meet US President Donald Trump in Washington to discuss negotiations with Iran, after Netanyahu requested that his visit be moved forward by one week from the originally scheduled date, as reported by Ean Libya on February 8th.

Any negotiations, the office said, must address curbing Iran’s ballistic missile programme and halting support for Iran’s regional proxies. Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben‑Gvir stated that Netanyahu is “doing an excellent job in everything related to the Iranian threat file,” stressing that “Israel will not accept the presence of a nuclear Iran that has ballistic missile capabilities.”

Ben‑Gvir said that Netanyahu is capable of engaging directly with Trump and persuading him of Israel’s positions on this issue, adding that Netanyahu “believes that the restriction of ballistic missiles and the cessation of support for the Iranian axis should be included in any negotiations.”

Trump said that negotiations with Iran “went positively” and “will continue early next week,” explaining: “We are having many good negotiations, and I think we have achieved positive results today with Iran; we will meet again early next week.”

It was previously reported on February 7th that talks between Washington and Iran were described by Trump as “very good”, even as the US moved to increase economic pressure on Iran.

Following the latest round of indirect talks in Muscat, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi stated, “The atmosphere is positive, and there is an agreement on the continuation of negotiations in general, and this is a new beginning for negotiations, but there is a great lack of trust in this period, and this is a challenge to the negotiations.”

Araqchi added that “the Iranian nuclear issue will only be resolved through negotiations, and we are ready for an agreement that provides reassurance about uranium enrichment by reducing its rate.”

He reiterated Iran’s refusal to “transfer uranium abroad and discuss the ballistic missile program because it is a purely defensive issue.”

Iranian President Masoud Pezshakian announced that “the negotiations with Washington, which were held with the support of friendly governments in the region, are a step forward.”

Pezshakian continued, “Iran’s logic on the nuclear issue is the rights enshrined in the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT),” and concluded, “The Iranian people have always responded to respect with respect, but they do not tolerate the language of force.”

Iran’s Chief of General Staff, Maj. Gen. Abdolrahim Mousavi warned that “any military action against Iran will inflict irreparable losses on its planners and supporters,” citing that Iran “will not be the initiator of the war, but it will not hesitate to defend its national security, interests and territorial sovereignty, and any adventure against Iran will lead to the extension of the conflict regionally.”

Ean Libya and agencies, Maghrebi.org