Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid has issued an urgent warning against a proposal under consideration by the United States and Iran to restore the 2015 nuclear deal.
“On the table right now is a bad deal,” Lapid told foreign journalists in Jerusalem, arguing it will result in Iran having $US100 billion ($A145 billion) more a year at its disposal due to lifting of sanctions.
“This money will not build schools or hospitals. This is a $US100 billion a year that will be used to undermine stability in the Middle East and spread terror around the globe.”
Iran will pour even more money into funding Israel’s enemies, namely the Lebanese Hezbollah militia and the Palestinian militant organisations Hamas and Islamic Jihad, Lapid said.
“This money will go to the people who are trying to kill authors and thinkers in New York,” he said, referencing the attack on The Satanic Verses author Salman Rushdie.
US law enforcement is still investigating the stabbing, which left Rushdie severely injured.
“Of course, it will be used to strengthen Iran’s nuclear program,” Lapid said.
In 2018 the United States, under then-president Donald Trump, decided to unilaterally leave the agreement and impose tough new sanctions.
Read the article in The Canberra Times (AAP).