(CNN) Michael Oren - The U.S. decision to withdraw from the Iran nuclear deal makes America, Israel and the world much safer. The deal threatened the security and the very future of Israel. It legitimized Iranian aggression throughout the Middle East and funded massacres and terror through sanctions relief and business contracts. It also enabled Iran to retain its nuclear infrastructure and the ability to reactivate it in the near future. Contrary to the claim that no deal would satisfy us, Israelis, in fact, sought an arrangement that would dismantle Iran's nuclear facilities, halt its building of ballistic missiles capable of carrying nuclear warheads, and ensure that the jihadist regime in Tehran could never develop nuclear weapons. We sought a treaty that would link Iran's ability to do business overseas with the cessation of its support for terror, its campaign to dominate the Middle East, and its declared goal of destroying the Jewish state. The Iran deal, signed in 2015, achieved none of this. All of Iran's nuclear facilities, including those intended to make atomic bombs, were retained. Iranian scientists, led by veterans of the secret nuclear weapons program, developed centrifuges able to enrich uranium at four times the 2015 rate. The agreement also had expiration dates. In a short period, Iran would be able to enrich enough uranium for an entire arsenal of bombs. Now, though, the U.S. is again poised to apply immense pressure on Iran, greatly reducing its ability to mount aggression in the region and abroad. The writer, Israel's deputy minister for diplomacy, was Israel's ambassador to the U.S. (2009-13).
2018-05-10 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive