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The Israeli Plan to Counter Iran
(Ha'aretz) Israeli Foreign Ministry Director General Alon Ushpiz interviewed by Jonathan Lis - The Iranians have no intention of retreating from their military nuclear program, said Israeli Foreign Ministry Director General Alon Ushpiz in an interview. "They have not stopped their technological advances....The Iranians won't be coming to Vienna to return to the agreement. I think the Iranians will be coming to obtain whatever they can and wish for in the economic [sphere], in other words, an easing of sanctions at the lowest possible cost." "I don't think there are big differences in the understanding of where the technological situation is. But [Iran's] intentions are more difficult to analyze. Not a single partner is saying to us, 'We've come to terms with the Iranians getting a bomb.' Quite the contrary." Ushpiz believes the international community needs to adopt a different plan of action, one that is much firmer and more forceful. He describes a pincer action in which the U.S. would impose harsh sanctions and demand that Iran retreat from its nuclear ambitions, while at the same time threatening a significant military operation if it fails to cooperate. "Multidimensional pressure needs to be applied on the Iranians all the time....The Iranian military nuclear program cannot be given legitimacy. Absolutely not. As soon as that happens, this whole story unravels." The present agreement "gives legitimacy to an Iranian nuclear program the moment you tell [the Iranian regime] that from a certain point, you can conduct whatever research and development that you wish." Moreover, "an interim agreement is a very bad idea...because it's not certain that anything will come after it, and because it rewards the Iranians and gives them legitimacy."