Less than two weeks before US President Donald J. Trump is due to decide on the future of US participation in the Iran nuclear deal, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu claimed that his country has found proof Iran lied about the extent of its nuclear program.
In a speech delivered on April 30, Netanyahu said Israel has collected more than 100,000 files and roughly 180 CDs worth of evidence to show that Iran had nuclear capabilities beyond those revealed in negotiations to establish the nuclear deal. The material was reportedly obtained by Israeli intelligence from a secret storage facility in Tehran.
It is not news to US officials investigating Iran’s nuclear activity that Tehran had conducted research into nuclear weapons. However, according to Netanyahu—a long-time opponent of the nuclear deal—the documentation seized by Israel shows Iran went a step further and developed a military nuclear program.
Scowcroft Center Middle East Security Initiative Director Rachel Brandenburg, Future of Iran Initiative Director Barbara Slavin, and Rafik Hariri Center Senior Fellow Aaron Stein all commented to the New Atlanticist’s Rachel Ansley on the implications of Netanyahu’s presentation.
Read all of the commentary at the New Atlanticist.
Image: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared victory in Israel's elections at Likud party headquarters in Tel Aviv March 18. "What he did is comparable to a landslide,” Gil Tamary, Washington Bureau Chief for Israel’s Channel 10 News, told the New Atlanticist. (REUTERS/Amir Cohen)