Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Monday ruled out relaunching a nuclear deal with Iran “in the near future” as Israel urged a “credible military threat” to put pressure on Tehran.
Scholz’s somber assessment came during the visit of Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid – his latest diplomatic attempt to persuade Western powers to abandon the deal with the Jewish state’s arch-enemy.
Israel has long opposed a revival of the 2015 deal aimed at taming Tehran’s nuclear ambitions.
The agreement has been in tatters since US President Donald Trump unilaterally resigned in 2018 and again imposed tough sanctions on Tehran.
The momentum that has been building over the past month towards a restored deal has stalled as the deal’s three European parties – Germany, France and Britain – expressed doubts over the weekend about Iran’s sincerity.
Speaking to the Israeli head of state in Berlin, Scholz said he regretted that Iran had “not yet given a positive response to the Europeans’ proposals”.
“Now there is really no reason for Iran not to agree to these proposals. But we have to realize that this is not the case and certainly will not happen in the near future.”
Lapid said it was “time to put the failed negotiations with Iran behind us.
“They cannot and will not achieve the common goal of preventing Iran from getting a nuclear weapon.”
A senior Israeli official said everyone would be asking her what’s next in relation to the nuclear deal.
“It’s time to have a dialogue with the Americans and the Europeans … to put a credible military threat on the table to press Iran for a better deal” than just returning to the JCPOA, the official said.
The 2015 agreement, officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), gave Iran sanctions in return for curbing its nuclear program.
Negotiations, ongoing in Vienna since April 2021, aim to restore the deal by lifting sanctions on Tehran and urging Iran to fully honor its previous nuclear commitments.
– “Critical Diplomatic Opportunity” –
In a joint statement over the weekend, Germany, France and Britain accused Tehran of “missing this crucial diplomatic opportunity”.
“Instead, Iran is escalating its nuclear program well beyond any plausible civilian justification,” he added.
The Iranian Foreign Ministry criticized these statements as “unconstructive”.
Efforts to revive the deal are further complicated as the UN nuclear watchdog said in a report last week that it “cannot ensure” the peaceful nature of Tehran’s nuclear program.
Iran on Monday reiterated its “readiness” to cooperate with the International Atomic Energy Agency.
Before flying to Berlin, Lapid told his cabinet: “Israel is conducting a successful diplomatic campaign to stop the nuclear deal and prevent the lifting of sanctions on Iran.
“It’s not over yet,” he added. “There is still a long way to go, but there are encouraging signs.”
In addition to Scholz, Lapid met Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock and Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier in Berlin.
Israel insists Iran would use proceeds from sanctions lifting to bolster allied groups capable of attacking Israelis.
Notably, these groups include the Lebanese Shia group Hezbollah, as well as Hamas and Islamic Jihad, two key Palestinian militant organizations.
At a conference in the United States on Monday, Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz presented a map showing 10 sites in Syria, including Masyaf, that he said Iran used to manufacture weapons for Hezbollah.
Last month, the European Union, which is acting as the facilitator of the nuclear talks, presented a “final” draft of the deal.
Iran and the US then took turns responding to the text, with Washington saying on Friday Tehran’s response was a “step backwards”.
Lapid, whose late father survived the Holocaust, is also traveling with a delegation of survivors who accompanied him and Scholz on a visit to Wannsee, the site of a 1942 conference at which senior Nazi officials finalized plans to send Jews to death camps.
