Israel Warns Sanctions Relief for Iran Could Mean ‘Terror on Steroids’

Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett. AFP
Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett. AFP
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Israel Warns Sanctions Relief for Iran Could Mean ‘Terror on Steroids’

Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett. AFP
Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett. AFP

Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said funding for Iran could lead to "terror on steroids" on Tuesday, in an apparent warning against world powers easing sanctions against Tehran as they seek a new nuclear deal.

"The last thing you want to do ... is pour tens of billions of dollars into this apparatus. Because what will you get? Terror on steroids," Bennett said in a video address to the World Economic Forum in Davos.

Bennett’s comments came as international talks to save the Iran nuclear deal were held in Vienna on Tuesday.

Negotiations to salvage the nuclear deal resumed on November 29 after they were suspended in June as Iran elected a new ultraconservative president.

Abolfazl Amoui, spokesman for the National Security and Foreign Policy Committee of the Iranian Parliament, told Al Javan newspaper, which is affiliated to the Revolutionary Guards, that the Vienna talks are far from reaching an agreement despite the progress they have made compared to previous rounds.

He said the challenges obstructing an agreement include the issue of lifting sanctions demanded by Tehran and steps that Iran must take to revert its nuclear program back to JCPOA levels.

Amoui also pointed out that there are challenges related to the implementation of the agreement.

“In our opinion, important issues include verifying that sanctions would be lifted and ensuring that previous conditions are not repeated,” he said.

Amoui added: “A temporary agreement is not what we want.”

He revealed that media reports about a temporary agreement “are not serious.”



UN Security Council to Meet Sunday over US Strikes on Iran

Members of the United Nations Security Council listen as Ambassador Majed Bamya, Deputy Permanent Observer of the State of Palestine to the UN, speaks meeting on the situation in the Middle East, including the Palestinian question at the UN headquarters on November 20, 2024 in New York City. (Getty Images via AFP)
Members of the United Nations Security Council listen as Ambassador Majed Bamya, Deputy Permanent Observer of the State of Palestine to the UN, speaks meeting on the situation in the Middle East, including the Palestinian question at the UN headquarters on November 20, 2024 in New York City. (Getty Images via AFP)
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UN Security Council to Meet Sunday over US Strikes on Iran

Members of the United Nations Security Council listen as Ambassador Majed Bamya, Deputy Permanent Observer of the State of Palestine to the UN, speaks meeting on the situation in the Middle East, including the Palestinian question at the UN headquarters on November 20, 2024 in New York City. (Getty Images via AFP)
Members of the United Nations Security Council listen as Ambassador Majed Bamya, Deputy Permanent Observer of the State of Palestine to the UN, speaks meeting on the situation in the Middle East, including the Palestinian question at the UN headquarters on November 20, 2024 in New York City. (Getty Images via AFP)

The United Nations Security Council is due to meet later on Sunday, diplomats said, after the United States joined Israel's assault on Iran and hit the country's main nuclear sites overnight in strikes with massive bunker-busting bombs, Reuters reported.

Iran requested the meeting, calling on the 15-member body "to address this blatant and unlawful act of aggression, to condemn it in the strongest possible terms."

Israel's UN Ambassador Danny Danon said in a statement on Sunday that the US and Israel "do not deserve any condemnation, but rather an expression of appreciation and gratitude for making the world a safer place."