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‘We hope the situation is reversible,’ says Israeli official as Iran deal seems imminent

Should the U.S. sign a new nuclear agreement with Iran, “ultimately, [Israel will] end up with an even worse deal” than the original 2015 agreement, says Israeli official.

By World Israel News Staff

Israeli officials have expressed their concerns to the U.S. as a deal aimed at lifting sanctions on Iran in exchange for the country curbing its nuclear development program appears imminent.

A number of recent developments have signaled that an agreement may be on the horizon. For instance, Iran reportedly walked back its previous demand that the U.S. remove the IRGC from its official list of terror organizations, and the European Union offered Iran and the U.S. a “final” draft of the potential nuclear deal.

A senior Israeli intelligence official, speaking anonymously to Hebrew-language news outlet Ynet, said that after months of delaying and stalling, Iran has “suddenly” expressed a renewed interest in actively reaching a deal.

“The Iranians do not work too fast. We hope the situation is reversible,” the official said. “If they go to a deal, we’ll try to maximize the achievements [for Israel] within the agreement.”

The official also referenced former President Donald Trump’s unilateral withdrawal from the original deal in 2018, a move that was praised by Israel at the time.

But, the official said, it may be that the original deal was better for Israel than that currently on the table.

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It could be that “ultimately, we’ll end up with an even worse deal,” he said.

Zvi Yehezkeli, a prominent Israeli analyst and political commentator, said during an interview on 103FM on Friday that the new deal would be disastrous for Israel, but that the Americans seemed determined to sign an agreement with Tehran.

“The White House is preparing a package of lifting sanctions, which will allow the Iranians to pour a lot of money [into Iran] in a short time,” Yehezkeli said.

“We will get a stronger, more determined Iran, with [the ability] to arm a lot of terrorist groups in the region. Israel will have to solve [the problem] alone,” he continued.

“My assessment is that the Europeans and Americans will fold again. Yes, the Americans are eager for an agreement.”