Ya’alon says Iran deal fails to address missiles, terrorism

Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon says the Iranian nuclear deal, “as we know it, even with any last-minute improvements, is a bad deal, because it essentially enables Iran to be in the nuclear threshold zone and even become a nuclear threshold state, with all that this implies.”

The criticism of the deal comes as world powers and Iran are expected to resolve negotiations by tonight, whether they reach an agreement or not.

Speaking at the Knesset’s Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, Ya’alon says the pending agreement “whitewashes everything Iran did in contravention of resolutions.

“This obviously has implications on other states seeing this situation as a threat, neighboring countries speaking of their need to arm – this may start a nuclear arms race in the region. Countries like Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Turkey have been making statements to that effect.

“Beyond this, there are two issues not included in the framework agreement and worrying not only us but anyone looking for stability in the Middle East and the world. The fact that Iran’s missile project was not discussed, a project that in fact has already brought about the development and manufacture of missiles covering the entire area of Israel and most of Europe, and the continuing development of longer-range missiles, to a range covering the US East Coast. This was not discussed,” Ya’alon says.

The second issue he mentions “on a day-today basis” is Iran’s”terror activity, activity aimed at us, like its support of Hezbollah, funding of Hamas and Islamic Jihad in the Gaza Strip, spreading the knowledge of rocket making, and an effort to open a terror front in the Golan Heights, as we’ve seen earlier this year,” he adds.