Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said today that Israel will not allow Iran to acquire nuclear weapons, noting that he has led “countless overt and covert" operations that have set back Iran's nuclear program by "nearly a decade," Agence France-Presse reported, BTA reported.
“As the prime minister has repeatedly stated, Israel will not allow Iran to acquire a nuclear weapon“, Netanyahu's office said today, at a time when US President Donald Trump is trying to conclude a new nuclear agreement with Tehran.
“The prime minister has taken countless actions, both public and secret, in the fight against Iran's nuclear program, without which Iran would have a nuclear arsenal today. These actions have set back Iran's nuclear program by nearly a decade," the office added in a statement.
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Rafael Grossi said earlier that the UN nuclear watchdog should play a role in talks on Iran's nuclear program between Tehran and Washington ahead of a second round of talks between the two countries, Reuters reported.
Grossi, who arrived in Tehran on Monday, held discussions with Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and the head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, Mohammad Eslami, on ways the IAEA could support nuclear talks between Tehran and Washington. US President Donald Trump has threatened to bomb Iran if the talks fail.
"I am in contact with the American negotiator to see how the agency can become a bridge between Iran and the United States and help achieve a positive outcome in the negotiations," Grossi said, specifying that for any nuclear deal to be valid, verification by the IAEA would be necessary.