German FM says Iran nuclear talks entering ‘final phase’

Germany’s foreign minister says that nuclear talks with Iran are entering a “final phase” and that, despite Israeli reservations, a return to a nuclear agreement will make the region safer.

Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock speaks at a joint press conference in Tel Aviv with her Israeli counterpart, Yair Lapid, during an official visit.

Her remarks come as negotiations between Iran and world powers reconvened this week in an effort to revive the 2015 nuclear accord that curbed Tehran’s nuclear program.

Lapid says that he and Baerbock discussed the nuclear talks and he presented her with Israel’s position “that a nuclear Iran endangers not only Israel, but the entire world.” He says that Iran is “an exporter of terror from Yemen to Buenos Aires” and that the agreement must take into account its regional aggression.

Baerbock says she is “convinced that a full restoration of the JCPOA would make the region more secure, including Israel, otherwise we would not be having these talks.”

She says the talks with Iran, to which Germany is a party, have reached a “very critical point” and that it was important for Iran to come back to the table “with a willingness to compromise and without maximum demands.”

“We want to do everything we can to ensure that with this agreement, Israel’s security is guaranteed,” Baerbock says.