Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz called for a regional alliance and an expansion of intelligence cooperation in order to “make up for a lack of inspections” on Iran’s nuclear project.
Speaking at a Washington Institute Policy Forum, Gantz said that Iran is continuing its uranium enrichment and is close to 90% enrichment that is suitable for nuclear weapons “once they decide to reach it.”
He told the audience that while he “understands America’s need for an agreement,” the loopholes in the deal need to be closed, because “if you don’t close the open loopholes, you will have serious problems down the road.”
Pointing to the war in Ukraine where Western countries are using economic and political pressure on Russia but are being “very careful” with military options because Moscow has nuclear capabilities, Gantz warned that “this is not something Israel wants with Iran.”
So, if a deal is not reached then Israel will activate Plan B “immediately.”
“If there is not a deal we will have to move to Plan B. We must make sure we are increasing our intelligence cooperation and create an intelligence coalition that operates against Iran and compensates for a lack of inspection capabilities,” he said.
At the recent Negev summit, Iran and regional cooperation were central topics between the foreign ministers from Israel, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, Morocco and Egypt.
Source: Israeli media
