Bennett: Israel will not allow any foreign company to approach Iran

The Israeli Prime Minister says that even if the JCPOA is revived and the US returns to the agreement, Israel will not allow any international company to cooperate with Iran.

Naftali Bennett said on Monday evening, March 6, that even after the JCPOA is revived, Israel will explain to international companies that, in order to protect their economic interests, "they should not get close to Iran."

Speaking at the Menachem Begin Memorial Center in Jerusalem, Mr. Bennett added that Israel is ready to explain to all global companies that they should not go to Iran because "there is nothing there that you are looking for."

According to him, Israel intends to adopt a policy that is different from the one adopted in 2015, when the JCPOA was reached, and to relentlessly strike the goals of the Islamic Republic of Iran with the powerful and rapid military capability it has created.

Hours before the remarks, Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid, during a trip to Riga, the capital of Latvia, had discussed the JCPOA and Iran, as well as Russia's invasion of Ukraine, with his American counterpart, Anthony Blinken.

Mr. Blinken emphasized that the United States is committed to its commitment to preventing Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon.

Yair Lapid's visit to Riga is seen as part of the Israeli government's latest attempt to emphasize Israel's position against the revival of the JCPOA. Mr. Lapid had previously said that "we were unhappy with the JCPOA and we are even more unhappy with the revival of the JCPOA."

At the end of his secret trip to Moscow on March 4 and his three-hour talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Naftali Bennett emphasized that Israel will not be bound by any agreement that countries reach with Iran.

Israeli media reported that Mr. Bennett's secret trip to the Kremlin on Saturday was not only an attempt to mediate in Russia's war in Ukraine, but also a result of Israeli concerns about the possibility of reviving the JCPOA.

According to Israeli media reports, the issue of continued Israeli-Russian coordination on Syria was also raised in Naftali Bennett's talks with Vladimir Putin.

According to regional media reports, one day after this meeting, another missile attack was carried out by Israel against Syria.

Syria accused Israel of launching missiles at several locations around Damascus on the morning of March 6. This was the third attack attributed to Israel in Syria in the past 12 days.

According to the official Syrian news agency, two people were killed and material damage was caused in the attack.

No further details were given about the nature of the targets bombed. But Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz, without mentioning his country's responsibility for the attack, said Israel would use all its power and means to repel threats. He pointed to threats emanating from Iran.

Naftali Bennett also called on the Islamic Republic of Iran to “get out of Syria,” in his remarks Monday night. He said, “We will impose a swift and painful cost on you, close to your own home.”

In this warning, he said to Iran that you will pay for this with your blood.

Despite the successive statements by the Israeli Prime Minister and Ministers of Defense and Foreign Affairs against the military presence of the Islamic Republic of Iran in Syria and against the possibility of reviving the JCPOA, no matter how much the Vienna negotiations have progressed, the Israeli opposition accuses Mr. Bennett's government of not taking sufficient steps to prevent the reviving of the JCPOA.

On March 6, opposition leader Benjamin Netanyahu, referring to the ongoing negotiations in Vienna, said that "the Iranians are fighting for their interests at the negotiating table like lions," but Naftali Bennett's government has surrendered to Iran "like a rabbit" and "has threatened Israel."

In a speech marking the 30th anniversary of the death of Menachem Begin, Israel's prime minister of the past decades, Mr. Netanyahu said that even while the United States opposed Israel's attack on Iraq, Menachem Begin ordered an airstrike on Iraq's Osirak reactor, destroying Iraq's nuclear capabilities.

Benjamin Netanyahu stated that the Naftali Bennett government's commitment to the United States not to surprise Washington with possible attacks against Iran's nuclear program was a mistake.

Source: Radio Farda