“Arrangements that do not dismantle Iran’s nuclear infrastructure will not stop its nuclear program, and will only provide it with funds that will go to terrorist elements sponsored by Iran,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement.
He was not the only Israeli voice tying the prisoner deal to Iran’s nuclear program.
A pair of Israeli officials told The New York Times that the exchange is part of a larger set of understandings between Tehran and Washington, who have been working toward an informal arrangement that would limit the Iranian nuclear program.
US officials repeatedly denied that the two topics were tied, but the day after the deal was revealed, The Wall Street Journal reported that Iran had slowed its enrichment of nearly weapons-grade uranium and reduced a small amount of its stockpile.Israel has no new reason to be alarmed, said Iran expert Raz Zimmt of the Institute for National Security Studies in Tel Aviv. READ MORE
