Lapid said to tell EU official renewing talks with Iran shows lack of care for Israeli civilians

Foreign Minister Yair Lapid told EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell that the latter’s decision to travel to Iran and relaunch talks to revive the 2015 nuclear with the Islamic Republic is deeply misguided, Politico reports.

Borrell messaged Lapid ahead of his visit to Iran this weekend to give him a heads-up on what was about to unfold, the news site says. But the foreign minister did not take the news well.

“This is a strategic mistake that sends the wrong message to Iran,” Lapid responded, according to a diplomat familiar with the exchange.

“Talking about the great potential in the Iranian context, while Iran is trying to murder Israeli citizens throughout the world and especially in Turkey, indicates a worrying lack of care for the lives of Israeli citizens.”

Jerusalem says Iranian agents have been dispatched to Turkey in order to target Israeli tourists to avenge for recent attacks on Iranian nuclear and military targets attributed to the Jewish state.

Nearly a dozen Iranian agents were arrested by Turkish authorities last Thursday after allegedly trying to kidnap and kill a former Israeli ambassador and his wife.