Iran Says Israel Is Spreading Lies to ‘Poison’ Nuclear Deal Talks

Without evidence, Israel has claimed Iran has plans to enrich uranium at 90%

As negotiations to revive the Iran nuclear deal entered their third day in Vienna on Wednesday, Iran said Israel is stoking tensions and spreading lies to “poison” the talks.

“Israeli regime whose existence relies on tension is at it again, trumpeting lies to poison Vienna talks,” Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh wrote on Twitter. “All parties in the room now face a test of their independence & political will to carry out the job — irrespective of the fake news designed to destroy prospects for success.”

For decades now, Israel has been falsely claiming Iran is developing nuclear weapons, but the warnings never come true. On Monday, when the negotiations first resumed, Israeli media reported that Israel warned the US Iran is preparing to enrich uranium at the 90 percent level needed for weapons-grade, and the reports offered no evidence to back up the claim.

Since the JCPOA talks have resumed, Israeli officials have made their opposition to the process known and claim Iran is only trying to buy time to make a bomb. On Tuesday, Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid called for more sanctions on Iran and a “credible military threat” to deter Tehran. But sanctions from the US and covert attacks from Israel have only led to Iran making the nuclear advancements that Israel is complaining about.

The JCPOA limits Iran’s uranium enrichment to 3.67 percent and makes its nuclear program subject to the most stringent inspections in the world. If Israel really cared about Iran’s nuclear advancements, it would favor a JCPOA revival instead of doing everything to sabotage the agreement. Even without the JCPOA, Iran still vows not to develop a nuclear bomb and is a signatory to the Non-Proliferation Treaty, which Israel refuses to sign due to its secret nuclear weapons program.

Author: Dave DeCamp

Dave DeCamp is the news editor of Antiwar.com, follow him on Twitter @decampdave.