Steinitz warns emerging Iran deal will threaten global security

WASHINGTON — Three weeks before the deadline for a comprehensive nuclear agreement with Iran, Minister of National Infrastructure Yuval Steinitz told a US audience Monday evening that the forthcoming deal will endanger global security. Speaking hours after a top State Department official tried to reassure attendees at the American Jewish Committee’s Global Forum that a deal with Iran would offer the best possible outcome for Israel’s security, Steinitz dismissed such claims.

Steinitz emphasized that the inspections regime being shaped by the P5+1 negotiators is only set to be maintained for around a decade, saying sarcastically that there is an expectation that in that time “Iran will become Holland.” Holland has an extensive nuclear power program, but is not suspected of being in violation of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT).

“What if Iran remains committed to the destruction of Israel even 12 years from now,” Steinitz asked. “As a former philosopher and logician, I think it should be the other way around…. If Iran becomes Holland, then we trust them.”

“If Iran remains Iran,” he continued, “then the forthcoming deal will give no answer. This is about the future of Israel and global security.”

Steinitz specifically warned against allowing Iran “to proceed and make any progress on R&D.” A US draft of guidelines for continued talks released in April suggested that Iran would be allowed to repurpose the heavy water plant at Arak for research and the underground facility at Fordo will be converted into a nuclear physics research center, with the majority of its centrifuges removed.

The US administration has, in the past, repeatedly emphasized that Fordo and Arak were problematic sites, and Israel has continually called for their dismantlement.

Steinitz also spoke to the ongoing war of words among negotiators over the ability of international inspectors to enter military sites believed to be used for nuclear weapons-related research. “If military sites cannot be approached by IAEA inspectors, the whole inspections regime will be useless,” he admonished.

Steinitz asserted that “we have to learn from the experience with North Korea not to repeat the same mistakes again,” but offered a slightly conciliatory tone when he added that “we are working very closely with our US friends despite our differences.”

“We hope we will be able to make some changes,” added the minister who is one of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s closest political allies.

Steinitz addressed the conference attendees hours after US Deputy Secretary of State Anthony Blinken delivered an impassioned defense of Washington’s efforts to reach a comprehensive nuclear agreement with Iran. In contrast to Steinitz, Blinken said that the deal would be the best guarantor of Israel’s security, and challenged opponents to come up with a better plan.

Steinitz did not directly respond to Blinken’s comments, but he did reinforce his government’s commitment to the two-state solution with the Palestinians, a touchy subject in Washington after the administration cast doubt on Netanyahu’s genuine pursuit of such an outcome.

“As Prime Minister Netanyahu said time and again, Israel is committed to the two states for two peoples solution,” Steinitz told the audience. “The reason that the peace process is not moving forward — some people will point to the settlement activities [and] it is legitimate to criticize Israel — but any sober person who is aware of the facts in the Middle East knows that the main obstacle for peace is the Palestinian refusal to recognize the fact that Jews have the right to have their own nation state exactly like the Palestinians.”

The minister added that he believes “most Israelis will support a peace deal on two conditions: genuine peace, and real security.”