The State Department has rejected the latest round of Israeli claims about the P5+1 deal with Iran, insisting the Israeli beliefs are “inaccurate, exaggerated, and not based in reality.”
At particular issues were claims from Israeli Strategic Affairs Minister Yuval Steinitz that the sanction relief would be worth $40 billion to Iran. The State Department didn’t offer a number of their own, but said it was “considerably lower.”
No deal has actually been reached yet, but one was virtually finalized over the weekend before France scrapped it. Israel has insisted it secretly knows the truth about the deal, despite not being involved in the negotiations.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu insists that a deal with Iran could lead to “war” as Israel would decide to attack unilaterally, but officials have privately conceded that the pact would actually make it more difficult, if not impossible, for Israel to start such a war.
