Israel frets on details of proposed agreement with Iran

JERUSALEM – Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu contradicted a statement given by U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry on Sunday and said he was familiar with the terms of the proposed agreement between Iran and the P5+1 nations, according to a statement from the Prime Minister’s Office.

Netanyahu spoke on Sunday evening at an event hosted by the Jewish Federations in Jerusalem. In his speech, Netanyahu referenced a statement given by U.S. Secretary of State Kerry to NBC earlier on Sunday, according to which Netanyahu is “not familiar” with the terms of the proposal and therefore cannot judge it yet.

“I’m up to date with the details of the proposal of an agreement to the Iranians,” Netanyahu said in the statement.

“What is now on the table is a deal in which Iran retains its capabilities. Iran would be able to keep tons of uranium, enriched at a low-level. They can create a bomb within months or weeks ,” he said.

The prime minister added that “Iran will not back off from its nuclear weapons capabilities but the world nations will back off from the sanctions,” Netanyahu reiterated his position that it is a “bad and dangerous deal.”

He added that the military option – to attack Iran – must remain on the table. “Only the combination of debilitating sanctions and a military option – can stop Iran,” he said.

Earlier on Sunday, the prime minister expressed satisfaction from the weekend’s failed attempt to reach an agreement between the world nations and Iran in Geneva.

“I talked with world leaders over the weekend and told them that according to the information coming to Israel the apparent deal is bad and dangerous,” Netanyahu said in Sunday morning’s weekly cabinet meeting.

On a similar note, the Ha’aretz daily published on Sunday that a delegation of high ranking U.S. officials arrived in Jerusalem and updated Israeli officials on the ongoing efforts in the Geneva talks.

The delegation is led by the United States’ Undersecretary for Political Affairs, Wendy Sherman, who heads the U.S. negotiation team.

The current round of talks between Iran and the six world leaders (P5+1) took place between Thursday and Saturday and the parties will reconvene on Nov. 20.