Bennett: We Hope Vienna Talks Conclude Without Agreement

A lifting of sanctions on Iran will result in the flooding of the Islamic Republic with billions of dollars, which will go to buying “more rockets, more UAVs, more terrorist cells, more cyber attacks and malign activities,” Prime Minister Naftali Bennett warned on Tuesday.

Speaking at a conference at the Institute for National Security Studies, Bennett said such weapons would not only be used against Israel but “also against our American allies in the region and other allies.”

Addressing the ongoing nuclear talks in Vienna between Tehran and world powers, he said, “We are following the nuclear talks in Vienna, and we hope that they conclude without an agreement. But even with an agreement, our assessment is that the Iranians will continue to be Iranians. We already see it now.

“While Iranian Foreign Ministry officials are negotiating in Vienna with the superpowers, the [Islamic] Revolutionary Guard is behaving like the neighborhood bully and attacking the UAE and other places. This is the definition of negotiation under fire. This is blackmail.”

Bennett added, “The campaign to weaken Iran has begun. This campaign is being conducted in multiple fields: nuclear, economic, cyber, overt and covert operations – both by ourselves and in collaboration with others.”

Negotiations between Tehran and world superpowers on restoring the 2015 nuclear deal – officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action – began at the end of December.

The latest round of talks, the eighth, opened 10 days after negotiations were adjourned for the Iranian negotiator to return home for consultations. The previous round, the first after a more than five-month gap caused by the arrival of a new hardline government in Iran, was marked by tensions over new Iranian demands.

Iran’s accord with world powers – Britain, France, Germany, the United States, Russia and China – granted it sanctions relief in exchange for curbs on its nuclear program.

But in 2018, then-President Donald Trump withdrew the U.S. from the deal and imposed sweeping sanctions on the regime, including against its oil sector – the lifeline of its economy. Iran’s crude exports plummeted and international oil companies scrapped deals with Tehran, weakening its economy.

The other signatories struggled to keep alive the agreement. The U.S. is participating only indirectly in this year’s talks to restore the deal, which President Joe Biden has signaled he wants to rejoin.