In his recent statement, Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid claimed that there are “encouraging signs” that the United States and European nations will not agree to a new nuclear deal with Iran, which is stalled since 2015. According to him, European countries like France, Germany, and the United Kingdom have made it clear that a nuclear agreement with Iran will not be inked in the near future. He went on to say that the United States has also shown its disinterest in signing the new nuclear pact with Iran.
“Israel is conducting a successful diplomatic campaign to stop the nuclear agreement and prevent the lifting of sanctions on Iran. It is not over yet. There is still a long way to go, but there are encouraging signs,” PM Lapid said on Sunday, as per Fox News. S
Since the resumption of discussions for Iran’s 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) in Vienna, Israel has been urging the US to cancel the deal with the rival country it accuses of supporting terrorist organisations.
Iran pushing the US to scrap nuclear agreement with Iran
According to Israeli Prime Minister Lapid, his government would keep pressurizing the Biden administration to forgo reaching a nuclear agreement with Iran. “This is not a good deal. It was not a good deal when it was signed back in 2015. Today, the dangers it entails are even greater,” Lapid claims.
Meanwhile, the Iranian government has accused the United States of “delaying” the efforts to restore the 2015 nuclear deal, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action. Notably, former US President Donald Trump-led administration unilaterally withdrew from the JCPOA in 2018, and also reimposed sanctions on Iran’s oil sector citing Tehran’s breach of the terms and obligations under the agreement.
What is the JCPOA nuclear deal?
The JCPOA deal on the Iranian nuclear program reached Vienna on 14 July 2015, between Iran and the P5+1 together with the European Union. The P5+1 refers to the UN Security Council’s five permanent members — China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the United States; as well as Germany. The JCPOA is an agreement that enables world powers to have core access to Iranian nuclear establishments for inspection purposes in exchange for sanctions relief.
However, the talks on restoring the deal and bringing Iran back into compliance have been stalled since June 2021 after Tel Aviv has incrementally violated the terms of the agreement and widened the cap on its stockpile of uranium and increased activities above 3.67% allowed under JCPOA.
