Israel Prepared For Every Threat From Iran - Prime Minister

Israel is prepared to stop any threat from Iran and ready for every scenario, Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid said on Tuesday

TEL AVIV (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 06th September, 2022) Israel is prepared to stop any threat from Iran and ready for every scenario, Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid said on Tuesday.

"It is still too early to know if we indeed succeeded in blocking the Iran deal, but Israel is prepared for any threat and any scenario," Lapid said during a visit to the Nevatim Air Force Base.

The prime minister added that as he and US President Joe Biden agreed, Israel has "free hands" when it comes to stopping Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon.

In 2015, Iran signed the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA, also known as the Iran nuclear deal) with the P5+1 group of countries (the United States, China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom - plus Germany) and the European Union. It required Iran to scale back its nuclear program and severely downgrade its uranium reserves in exchange for sanctions relief, including lifting the arms embargo five years after the deal's adoption.

In 2018, the US abandoned its conciliatory stance on Iran, withdrawing from the JCPOA and implementing hard-line policies against Tehran, prompting Iran to largely abandon its obligations under the accord.

In December 2021, JCPOA parties agreed on two drafts of a new deal, but no definitive agreement has been reached. Since then, the parties have had several rounds of talks on the revival of the deal. These negotiations have gained momentum recently, with EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrel saying last Wednesday that an agreement to revive the 2015 nuclear deal would hopefully be reached in the next few days.

Last week, Yair Lapid said Israel would continue "to fight the agreement with full force".