Israeli Intel Sources: No Iran Deal Is ‘Worse’ Than a Bad Deal

Officials warn no deal could push Iran to weaponize

For many years, Israel has been fighting hard against US diplomacy with Iran, arguing that the deals would be bad, and that nothing the US agrees to would apply to Israel’s ability to attack Iran anyhow.

Israel seems to be reversing course now, with intelligence sources telling the media that they now believe that the US not making a deal with Iran would be “worse” than making a bad deal, the exact opposite of their long-standing talking points.

The argument is that even a bad deal comes with limitations on Iran, particularly on weaponization of uranium. The concern is that if the US walks away with no deal at all, especially after long-standing threats, Iran would be under pressure to weaponize the program just to deter an attack.

Whether that is true or not is another matter. Iran long ago disavowed ever getting nuclear arms, and the crux of the whole thing is that Israel doesn’t believe them, and has lobbied the US hard enough that most US officials don’t either.

Israel has pressed mistrust so long though that the US is increasingly willing to just walk away from the talks without a deal, even though all indications are that the deal is there to be had.

Further complicating the narrative, Israel has long argued that any deal would be a “bad” deal, and quotes from unnamed intelligence sources in the Jerusalem Post is unlikely to totally reverse years of alternative claims from top figures.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.