Defense Minister Benny Gantz told a gathering of think tank directors in Washington DC on Friday that the nuclear deal being negotiated between Iran and world powers needs adjustment – at the very least — warning that Iran has made significant progress in its nuclear program.
Speaking at a briefing that followed the minister’s visit to CENTCOM headquarters and a meeting with US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan, Gantz was joined Chief of Staff to the Minister of Defense Maayan Israeli, Israeli Ambassador to the U.S. Mike Herzog, IDF Attache to the US Hidai Zilberman, Director of the Policy and POL-MIL Bureau Dror Shalom, and Military Secretary BG. Yaki Dolf as he tried to explain to American think tank directors why Israel is so deeply opposed to the impending nuclear deal with Iran.
While Gantz was in Washington (he flew to Japan on Saturday night), Prime Minister Yair Lapid sent a brief, tersely worded letter to Opposition leader Benjamin Netanyahu on Saturday inviting him to a security briefing.
“In light of the security situation and as required by law, I would like to invite you to a security update together with the military secretary,” the letter read. No further details were included in the letter.
In Washington, Gantz was focused on trying to get the think tank leaders to understand Israel’s “security situation.”
In his presentation, entitled “Israel’s Security Priorities,” (see link below) the defense minister said Iran has accumulated “infrastructure, capabilities and knowledge, much of which is irreversible.
The revived nuclear deal “will enable Iran to further expand its nuclear program during the period of an agreement that would have fewer restrictions. Iran would be able to acquire a nuclear weapon when said agreement would end in 2031,” Gantz told the gathering.
He also described the production of thousands of advanced centrifuges and pointed out that if they are stored and not destroyed, they will be readily available for enrichment once the agreement comes to an end, or in case Iran chooses to withdraw from the agreement.
Gantz also spoke about the new advanced cascade at the Fordow nuclear plant, where Iran could already enrich uranium to 90 percent purity immediately, should it decide to do so.
The defense minister said that should Iran decide to do so, it may reach 1SQ at 90 percent within a matter of weeks.
“Iran limits IAEA supervision and does not provide answers regarding the open files and enriched material that it has accumulated,” he pointed out.
“The common goal of Israel and the US is to prevent Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon, and the way to do so is to take Iran back and to deter it,” he said.
“The agreement in discussion contains a number of problematic clauses. Iran has accumulated infrastructure, capabilities and knowledge. As such, improvements are necessary in the nuclear agreement in discussion – with an emphasis on the ‘sunset’ clause.”
Gantz welcomed US initiatives to strengthen cooperation in the Middle East, as well as its military activities in recent weeks in face of Iranian proxies.
(The US conducted precision airstrikes in Deir ez-Zor in Syria this past week, targeting infrastructure facilities used by groups linked to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), US CENTCOM Col. Joe Buccino announced this weekend. Buccino said the airstrikes were carried out “in response to the August 15 attacks against American forces in Syria.” President Joe Biden authorized the attacks.)
But despite US actions in Syria, Israel faces an existential threat from Iran, Gantz noted.
Moreover, the $100 billion that Iran will receive once the nuclear deal is signed will make that situation worse.
“The sweeping removal of sanctions on sectors like banking – against financial institutions designated today as supporting terrorism – means the Iranians will have no problem whatsoever laundering money … Iran will assist other nations facing sanctions to evade them,” Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid warned in a public address last week after President Biden declined to accept his urgent phone call on the issue.
Gantz warned in his presentation that Iran already provides more than a billion USD to its proxy groups in Syria, Iraq, Lebanon, Yemen and Gaza.
Hezbollah, “which harms Lebanon and threatens Israel,” receives more than half a billion USD per year from Iran, which also provides more than 100 million USD per year to Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad in Gaza.
“As such, regardless of any future scenarios, action must be taken against Iranian proxies, which threaten the entire Middle East region,” Gantz pointed out.
The defense minister also listed the confidence-building measures taken by Israel over the past year for the Palestinian Authority and discussed the implications of the recent Operation Breaking Dawn against the Palestinian Islamic Jihad terror organization in Gaza.
“Israel will continue to take action [to ensure the security of the State of Israel] regardless of any developments and to prevent Iran from achieving regional hegemony,” Gantz said.
“Israel will continue to strengthen its military superiority.”
