GUIDANCE

Did Israel Just Kill the Iran Nuclear Deal?

Apr 30, 2018 | 22:47 GMT

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sits in Jerusalem.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sits in Jerusalem. On prime-time television today, Netanyahu announced that Israeli intelligence had smuggled a cache of evidence relating to Iran's nuclear activities out of the country. 

(RONEN ZVULUN/AFP/Getty Images)

Highlights

  • Israel claims that Tehran held onto research related to Iran's nuclear weapons program and has lied to the international community about its intentions.
  • The announcement was timed to influence the United States and the European Union just days before the White House reaches a May 12 deadline to issue sanctions waivers in accordance with the terms of the Iran nuclear deal.
  • Israel seeks stronger U.S. backing for its bold military moves against Iran in Syria by characterizing Tehran as unreliable and ill-intentioned.

In a prime-time press conference from Tel Aviv, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced Israeli intelligence had smuggled a cache of evidence out of Iran. Dubbed Iran's atomic archive, the 100,000 files allegedly show that Iran sought to conceal a nuclear weapons program. Throughout his presentation, Netanyahu argued that Iran liked to the international community -- and to watchdogs from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) -- about the existence of a secret nuclear weapons program and sensitive research that Iran held on to for future use. While much of what Netanyahu presented has been said before (Israel and some in the United States have accused Iran of nuclear deception numerous times), the Israeli president argued that Iran violated the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), better known as the Iran nuclear deal, by failing to come clean during 2015 talks with the IAEA. Just days before a May 12 deadline...

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