An overwhelming majority of Israelis believe that the United States and the Obama Administration will do nothing to stop Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon.
The poll from the Times of Israel newspaper said that 64% of Israelis believe that President Obama will not stop Iran from achieving a nuclear weapon. Only 22% of voters surveyed believed that the President and America would stand up to Iran.
The poll also showed that President Obama had a 33% approval rating among Israeli voters and a 50% disproval rating. A surprising finding was that even among the 33% that approved of Obama, only 46% of those believed he had the ability to stop Iran from making a nuclear weapon.
The poll also showed that despite the poor approval rating overall, President Obama was approved by more Israeli voters than any Israeli politician except for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (who had a 51% approval rating.)
A former deputy director for the International Atomic Energy Agency said that despite the deal Iran has made with the west, they will remain just weeks away from a viable nuclear weapon.
Olli Heinonen said that if Iran decided to end the agreement and turn up their centrifuges, they could enrich enough uranium in a matter of weeks to create one nuclear bomb.
“If this all happens in the next, let’s say, weeks, this is really true. They can start to produce 20-percent enriched uranium,” Heinonen said on WABC. “Now, in order to go fast for Iran, it actually needs to make several such tandem cascades. They have to put perhaps some 6,000 centrifuges to work in this kind of a mode. If they do that, which they can technically do, it will take certainly a little bit more than one night to do. But then once they have sorted it out, it would take about two, three weeks to have enough uranium hexafluoride high-enriched for one single weapon.”
Heinonen said if Iran follows through on their agreement to reduce their stockpiles of 20% enriched uranium to 5%, it would take longer for the country to produce a nuclear weapon.
Iran’s top nuclear negotiator told citizens that the new agreement reached with western nations can be reversed in as little as one day.
Abbas Araghchi said that if Iran decides to enrich uranium to levels that can be used in nuclear weapons there would be little western nations could do to stop them before the beginning of the process.
“We can return again to 20 percent enrichment in less than one day and we can convert the [nuclear] material again. Therefore the structure of our nuclear program is preserved,” Araghchi said in the nationwide broadcast. “Whenever we feel the other side is not following through with its commitments, whenever we feel there are other motives involved, whenever—now, say, under pressure from Congress or something else—they take action against their commitments, say put in place new sanctions, we will immediately revert to the current status quo. And we will again continue our nuclear program in the form that it is today.”
The White House and State Department refused to comment to Daily Beast regarding the Iranian negotiator’s comments.
The President of Iran has taken to the social media network Twitter to declare victory in their negotiations with the world over their nuclear program.
“Our relationship w/ the world is based on Iranian nation’s interests. In #Geneva agreement world powers surrendered to Iranian nation’s will,” Iranian President Hassan Rouhani wrote.
The statement is just the latest in celebratory declarations by Iran’s leadership saying that the deal struck in Geneva with major world powers is not going to hamper their ability to produce nuclear weapons.
“No facility will be closed; enrichment will continue, and qualitative and nuclear research will be expanded,” Iran’s chief negotiator Abbas Araqchi said. “All research into a new generation of centrifuges will continue.”
Iranian officials are also talking about a side deal, or “nonpaper”, which is code for an informal side agreement that does not have to be publicly admitted.
Members of the Iranian parliament are moving to ignore a deal struck with western governments last month and enrich uranium to bomb grade.
The bill in the Iranian Parliament would allow enrichment of uranium up to 60 percent. That would put the country in direct violation of the agreement reached last month with the United States, Britain and other western nations.
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has supported the agreement but he has not commented on whether he will continue to support the deal in light of the bill in Parliament.
The bill is disguising the plan to create nuclear bomb material by saying it would provide energy for nuclear submarines.
The bill could be debated and voted on within a week. If passed, the Iranian government would have no choice but to follow the law and enrich uranium to 60 percent.
Israeli Prime Minster Benjamin Netanyahu is leading a delegation of six government officials to Rome for a meeting with Pope Francis.
The two-day visit will be the first time the two men have met face-to-face.
Officials close to the scheduled meeting say it’s likely the two men will discuss the Iranian nuclear issue and ongoing peace talks with the Palestinians.
Israeli President Shimon Peres invited the Pope for a visit to Christian holy sites in April followed by Palestinian leader Mahmud Abbas who met Pope Francis on October 17th. Sources say it’s likely the Pontiff will visit the Holy Land near the end of May 2014.
Israel and the Vatican established diplomatic relations in 1993 but continue to have issues regarding property rights and tax exemptions for the Catholic Church. In June, negotiators pledged to step up their work to solve outstanding issues.
Iran now has the means to launch a nuclear weapon.
A commander with Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard told the state-run FARS news agency that their country now has “indigenous” ballistic missile technology that would allow attacks on distant countries.
Brigadier General Hossein Salami said that “Iran is among the only three world countries enjoying an indigenous ballistic missile technology.”
The announcement comes as details trickle out from the previously announced agreement between Iran and world powers to stop that country’s nuclear program. The announced deal reportedly has not been finalized and no timetable set, thus allowing Iran to continue enriching uranium.
State Department Spokeswoman Jen Psaki confirmed Iran is not yet required to halt their uranium enrichment activities.
“In terms of what the Iranians are or aren’t doing, you know, obviously, our hope would be, given we are respecting the spirit of the agreement in pressing for sanctions not to be put in place and beginning the process of figuring out how to deliver on our end of the bargain, that the same would be coming from their end in the spirit of the—of the agreement,” Psaki said at a press conference.
Iran’s president gave indications during an interview that his nation’s deal with western powers over their nuclear program was more than just an attempt to ease international sanctions.
Hassan Rouhani said that Israel has become an isolated country after Iran reached a deal with the U.S, Russia, Great Britain and other western powers.
While not referring to Israel by name, Rouhani told Iranian state TV during an interview about his first 100 days in office that “our enemies are isolated” and referred to the enemy as “an illegitimate, occupier regime”, language used by previous Iranian leaders to describe Israel.
Israel had criticized the deal as a “historic mistake” and said Iran’s intentions were not what western government leaders had claimed.
President Obama and other world leaders were hailing an agreement with Iran to put some controls on that country’s nuclear program but throughout the Middle East the news of the agreement was met with anger and skepticism.
Saudi Arabian officials were furious that American negotiators and those connected to the Obama administration had not briefed them at all regarding the deal with Iran. A senior advisor to the Saudi royal family said they had been lied to and that the Obama administration had hidden information from them. He said Saudi leaders were not necessarily upset with the deal but the way it was handled by Washington.
The Saudi government eventually issued a moderately supportive statement about the deal.
“This agreement could be a first step towards a comprehensive solution for Iran’s nuclear program, if there are good intentions,” the statement read.
Meanwhile, Israel reiterated their opposition to the deal. Israeli Deputy Defense Minister Danny Danon said that all options are on the table for his nation.
“We are not in a position of making a mistake or to gamble with our future,” Danon said. “That is why I am saying it very clear. All options are still on the table. And if we see that Iran continues with the effort to build a nuclear bomb, we will do whatever is necessary to protect ourselves.”
The wife of an American pastor imprisoned in Iran for being a Christian is outraged that the Obama Administration did nothing to secure her husband’s release while in talks over that country’s nuclear program.
The White House confirmed over the weekend that they made no efforts at all to secure the release of Saeed Abedini during the nuclear negotiations.
“It’s unbearable,” Naghmeh Abedini said to Fox News, “to think of another Christmas without him and see my kids not have him home for Christmas.”
Abedini’s supporters say the deal with Iran takes America’s best leverage off the table for the release of the persecuted pastor.
Jay Sekulow of the American Center for Law And Justice said that President Obama and Secretary of State John Kerry have “turned their backs on a U.S. citizen.”
