Gantz Emphasizes Need to Counter ‘Iranian Threats’ in Meeting with UN Secretary-General
Benny Gantz, Israel’s Defense Minister, who traveled to America for the second time in less than three weeks to raise “the dangers of Iran,” wrote on Twitter following his Monday, September 12 meeting with UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres that he discussed with Guterres “the need to establish an international front against challenges, foremost among them, threats from Iran.”
According to Israeli media reports, General Gantz told Mr. Guterres that “any nuclear agreement with Iran must include the destruction of all of the country’s centrifuges so it cannot use them again.”
He added that Iran has increased centrifuge production and transferred them to fortified underground facilities, and “if an agreement is signed with Iran, we must ensure that it does not possess nuclear weapons.”
According to Yedioth Ahronoth, Benny Gantz subsequently revealed in a separate meeting with ambassadors of UN Security Council member states and ambassadors of “Abraham Accords” member countries that “Iran has tripled its uranium enrichment capability.”
He added: “Iran is the greatest source of instability in the Middle East; it can carry out assassinations and cause an arms race, but I believe it can be stopped and the time to act is now.”
According to Israel’s Defense Minister, Iran “has endangered the global economy and energy resources, caused food prices to rise, disrupted commerce, and threatened freedom of navigation in the region, and if it also goes under a nuclear umbrella, the situation will become worse.”
Nevertheless, Stephane Dujarric, spokesman for Antonio Guterres, said Monday evening: “The Secretary-General has always been a serious advocate for reviving the JCPOA.”
Before his meetings at the United Nations, Gantz presented on Monday at a speech at an event in New York a map of ten locations in Syria and said Iran has transformed Syrian military industries and army bases into “precision missile production factories” and has launched similar factories in Yemen and Lebanon.
Israeli officials, who after multiple meetings with American leaders have not yet convinced Washington to declare “failed negotiations,” have recently increased their international efforts and travels aimed at preventing the revival of the JCPOA.
Concurrently with the meetings and speeches of Israel’s Defense Minister in New York regarding Iran, Israel’s Prime Minister also said on September 12 in a meeting with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz in Berlin that the agreement to revive the JCPOA is a “mistake” and must “move past these failed negotiations.”
Israel welcomed and praised a statement this week from three European countries in this regard stating that Iran “has endangered the JCPOA,” and claims that classified information it provided to these three countries played a role in this new European position.
In this regard, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, in a position similar to the European countries, stated that an agreement with Iran may no longer be possible in the short term.
Nevertheless, a U.S. State Department official said Monday in response to statements by Israeli officials in this regard that “negotiations are dead,” expressing that Washington still does not consider the talks with Iran “failed” and will continue efforts to pursue negotiations on the text of the JCPOA revival agreement.
Source: Radio Farda
