Netanyahu Vows to Fight Efforts to Revive Nuclear deal

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (File photo: Reuters)
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (File photo: Reuters)
TT

Netanyahu Vows to Fight Efforts to Revive Nuclear deal

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (File photo: Reuters)
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (File photo: Reuters)

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced that he would work strongly and publicly at the international level against the return to the nuclear agreement, and unlike the last government's behind-the-scenes approach, he intends to apply public pressure.

"Unfortunately, contrary to the popular opinion that this dangerous nuclear agreement has been scrapped, despite the recent events in Iran, I think this possibility has not yet been definitively removed from the [global] agenda," Netanyahu said ahead of his first cabinet session.

He indicated that Israel would work harder to prevent Iranian-military establishment in Syria and elsewhere, pledging to boost Israeli ties with Arab countries.

Netanyahu also pledged to normalize ties with "additional Arab countries in the region."

Notably, Netanyahu did not reach an understanding with his army and intelligence chiefs regarding Iran, and he was at odds during his former terms.

However, internal research on military intelligence in the Israeli army indicates that there is a convergence in the position between them.

Netanyahu believed carrying out military operations against the Iranian nuclear weapons was essential.

The intelligence services, like the rest of the security services, thought that such an operation needed a true US partnership and reaching an understanding between Tel Aviv and Washington.

However, they believed that current diplomatic action has failed.

Military intelligence research revealed that the Iranian leadership received a fatal blow in the past two years after the US assassinated the commander of the al-Quds Force in the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), Qassem Soleimani.

According to Israeli estimates, Soleimani's successor, Ismail Qaani, failed to protect and preserve his predecessor's regional expansion project.

Furthermore, the economic sanctions had dangerous repercussions on people's lives, and the ongoing wave of protests since September, which the country hasn't witnessed anything like since the 1979 revolution.

Iran has been witnessing ongoing protests in its 31 governorates on an almost daily basis.

According to Israeli research, the Iranian regime is still strong despite the severe blows. However, based on past experiences, when the regime senses it was in danger, it resorts to making deals similar to what happened in 1988 in Iraq.

In 2003, the US entered Afghanistan and Iraq, and former President George W. Bush declared that the next stop would be in Iran, so they decided to stop their nuclear project.

Israeli security officials believe that Israel must convince the West of the need to issue a real military threat so that Iran stops its nuclear project and accepts the West's conditions.

They believe that Iran's support for Russia in its military operations in Ukraine leaves no room for the West to continue in their policy. They should reactivate all sanctions and issue a threat of war.



Seoul: 'At Least 100 North Koreans Killed' Fighting for Russia

South Korea's spy agency has said there are signs Kim Jong Un is planning a fresh deployment of forces for fighting in Russia's war with Ukraine. STR / KCNA VIA KNS/AFP
South Korea's spy agency has said there are signs Kim Jong Un is planning a fresh deployment of forces for fighting in Russia's war with Ukraine. STR / KCNA VIA KNS/AFP
TT

Seoul: 'At Least 100 North Koreans Killed' Fighting for Russia

South Korea's spy agency has said there are signs Kim Jong Un is planning a fresh deployment of forces for fighting in Russia's war with Ukraine. STR / KCNA VIA KNS/AFP
South Korea's spy agency has said there are signs Kim Jong Un is planning a fresh deployment of forces for fighting in Russia's war with Ukraine. STR / KCNA VIA KNS/AFP

At least 100 North Koreans deployed to support Russia's war effort in Ukraine have been killed since entering combat in December, South Korean lawmaker Lee Seong-kweun told reporters Thursday.
Pyongyang has sent thousands of troops to reinforce the Russian military, including to the Kursk border region, where Ukrainian forces seized territory earlier this year.
"In December, they (North Korean troops) engaged in actual combat, during which at least 100 fatalities occurred," Lee said, speaking after a briefing by South Korea's spy agency.
"The National Intelligence Service also reported that the number of injured is expected to reach nearly 1,000."
Despite those losses, the agency also said it had detected signs North Korean leader Kim Jong Un was preparing to train a new special operations force to ship westward, AFP reported.
Lee noted that the North's elite Storm Corps -- from which the initial deployment was drawn -- had "the capacity to send reinforcements".
The NIS also predicted "that Russia might offer reciprocal benefits" for a new deployment, Lee said, including "modernizing North Korea's conventional weaponry".
The lawmaker added that "several North Korean casualties" had already been attributed to Ukrainian missile and drone attacks and training accidents, with the highest ranking "at least at the level of a general".
The NIS said the high number of casualties could be attributed to the "unfamiliar battlefield environment, where North Korean forces are being utilized as expendable frontline assault units, and their lack of capability to counter drone attacks," said Lee.
Burden or asset?
"Within the Russian military, complaints have reportedly surfaced that the North Korean troops, due to their lack of knowledge about drones, are more of a burden than an asset," Lee said.
His comments follow a senior US military official on Tuesday saying North Korean forces had suffered "several hundred" casualties fighting Ukrainian troops in Russia's Kursk region.
Ukrainian commander-in-chief Oleksandr Syrsky previously said North Korean troops had been at the heart of an "intensive offensive" in Kursk.
North Korea and Russia have strengthened their military ties since Moscow's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. A landmark defense pact between Pyongyang and Moscow signed in June came into force earlier this month.
Experts say North Korea's Kim is keen to acquire advanced technology from Russia and battle experience for his troops.
Pyongyang on Thursday lashed out at what it called "reckless provocation" by the United States and its allies for a joint statement criticizing North Korea's support for Russia's war in Ukraine, including the deployment of troops.
A foreign ministry spokesman said the 10 nations and the European Union (EU) were "distorting and slandering" Pyongyang's "normal cooperative" ties with Moscow, according to state media.