U.S. and Iranian officials confirmed Thursday that no American nuclear inspectors will be permitted to enter the country’s contested nuclear site under the parameters of a deal reached with world powers this week, according to multiple statements by American and Iranian officials.
President Barack Obama lashed out at critics, including Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who argue that a recently inked nuclear agreement with Iran does little to rein in the rogue regime’s ability to construct a bomb, during a press conference Wednesday.
An Israeli government official said Tuesday evening that “According to the agreement, Iran can be warned up to 24 days before being visited by inspectors. It’s as if police who want to raid a drug lab would give the criminals 24 days warning — it is inconceivable.”
A historic deal with Iran will close off any possibility the country can develop nuclear weapons, halting a potential arms race in the Middle East, President Barack Obama said.
Israeli leaders across the political spectrum condemned in stark apocalyptic language the Iranian nuclear pact announced by the United States and world powers Tuesday, calling it a historic mistake that frees Iran to sponsor global terror while assembling the information and materials to build a nuclear weapon.
A landmark Iran nuclear agreement was reached Tuesday after clearing final obstacles, and a senior diplomat said it included a compromise between Washington and Tehran that would allow U.N. inspectors to press for visits to Iranian military sites as part of their monitoring duties.
President Obama will have a hard time getting congressional approval of a Iranian nuclear deal, according to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky.
At Sunday’s cabinet meeting, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu slammed Iranian leader Ayatollah Khamenei and Iranian President Rouhani, saying, “The ruler of Iran, Khamenei, was quoted as saying the U.S. must be fought, regardless of whether there is a [nuclear] agreement. The president of Iran, Rouhani, led a hate march in the streets of Tehran in which U.S. and Israeli flags were burned and many chanted ‘Death to America’ and ‘Death to Israel.’
A deal has been reached between the world powers and Iran over the latter’s nuclear program after a series of major American concessions, Ehud Yaari, the Middle East affairs commentator for Israel’s Channel 2 television, said Friday night. “It is done. It is done,” he said, and will be signed “early next week.”
An agreement to curb Iran’s nuclear program could create a bonanza for U.S. defense contractors who already are benefiting as the Obama administration tries to assuage Israeli and Gulf Arab concerns by cutting deals for more than $6 billion in military hardware.
The negotiations over Iran’s nuclear program will continue past the latest July 9 deadline, US Secretary of State John Kerry said from the talks in Vienna on Thursday evening.
After missing a second deadline in a week on Tuesday for concluding the nuclear talks between Iran and six world powers, the US administration has begun to suggest the talks could continue without set timetables.
America hailed “substantial progress in every area” of its negotiations over Iran’s nuclear ambitions on Tuesday, but declared that another deadline for a deal would be ignored and the talks extended by 72 hours.
A senior Iranian military official said Sunday that despite the emerging nuclear deal between Iran and the US-led P5+1 group of world powers, America will remain Tehran’s enemy.
As diplomats rush to reach an agreement to curb Iran’s nuclear program, the U.S. military is stockpiling conventional bombs so powerful that strategists say they could cripple Tehran’s most heavily fortified nuclear complexes, including one deep underground.
Jerusalem reacted furiously over reports Saturday that world powers were closing in on a long-sought pact that would see the lifting of sanctions in exchange for curbs on Tehran’s nuclear program.
The head of the international nuclear watchdog group — a day after returning from Tehran — said Saturday that a report documenting Iran’s past nuclear activities could be completed by the end of the year.
The Hebrew-language Walla! reported Tuesday that it has learned from a foreign source that IDF Chief of Staff Gadi Eizenkot has appointed Deputy Chief of Staff Maj. Gen. Yair Golan to head a special team tasked with examining the military options against Iran.
Former CIA Director Michael Hayden said Sunday that the United States has lost its edge going into the final days of a nuclear negotiation with Iran.
Sens. Mark Kirk (R., Ill.) and Robert Menendez (D., N.J.) revived on Thursday long-stalled legislation to impose and extend sanctions on Iran for a period of at least 10 more years, according to sources familiar with the move.