Former MI chief says Iran already a nuclear breakout state

Amos Yadlin, former head of the National Security Institute and a former chief of military intelligence, says one of the problematic aspects of the Lausanne nuclear talks is that “it was never defined what is a bad agreement… what is an agreement that [US President Barack] Obama and [Secretary of State John] Kerry would prefer not to have signed?”

“Even Netanyahu, who softened his position, calls on world powers to sign a ‘better deal’ but he never defined what is a good deal,” Yadlin says.

Speaking to Channel 2, Yadlin says there are four issues by which to examine any future agreement:

1) How much will a deal roll back the Iranian nuclear program? The US claims a full year, but Yadlin says experts – even non- Israeli ones – believe this is an exaggeration.
2) The level of monitoring: According to Yadlin inspectors will have to watch Iran very, very closely to make sure the Islamic Republic sticks by the deal.
3) What progress is Iran allowed to make until the ‘sunset clause’ goes into effect, i.e., the deal expires.
4) How quickly sanctions are lifted and how quickly will they be reinstated in case Iran violates a deal.

Yadlin said that Iran is and already has been a nuclear breakout state for several years. In this sense only, he said, every deal that rolls its capabilities back to any extent is an improvement.