Netanyahu vows to stop Iran deal on nukes

OCCUPIED-AL-QUDS: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Tuesday he would do “everything I can” to prevent a nuclear deal between world powers and Iran, a week ahead of travelling to Washington.
Netanyahu’s government has always opposed a deal with Tehran over its nuclear programme, and he is to address the US Congress on March 3 on the subject, in a move that has angered the White House.
“The information which has reached me in recent days greatly strengthens our concerns regarding the agreement being formulated between the major powers and Iran,” said a Netanyahu statement.
“This agreement, if indeed it is signed, will allow Iran to become a nuclear threshold state.
“It is my obligation as prime minister to do everything that I can to prevent this agreement. Therefore, I will go to Washington... because the American Congress is likely to be the final brake before the agreement.”
House Speaker John Boehner invited Netanyahu to address a joint session of Congress on March 3.
President Barack Obama has refused to meet Netanyahu during his trip, saying diplomatic protocol forbids him from doing so, since the Israeli leader is running for re-election on March 17.
The two leaders have a famously frosty relationship, which has grown even more tense as a result of the disagreement over Netanyahu’s upcoming speech.
Britain, China, France, Russia, the United States and Germany — known as the P5+1 — have been seeking a comprehensive accord with Iran that would prevent Tehran from developing a nuclear bomb in return for an easing of economic sanctions.
Tehran says its nuclear programme is purely for civilian use.
There is a heightened sense of urgency as the clock ticks down towards a March 31 deadline to agree on a political framework for the deal.
The United States will know soon if Iran is willing to seal a deal to assure the world it is not seeking to develop a nuclear bomb, Secretary of State John Kerry

said on Tuesday. But fresh from talks in Geneva with his Iranian counterpart, Kerry sounded a note of caution, telling US lawmakers he was not sure yet whether a comprehensive agreement was within reach.
World powers grouped under the so-called P5+1 “had made inroads” since reaching an interim deal with Iran in November 2013 on reining in its suspect nuclear program, Kerry said.
“We’ve gained unprecedented insight into it,” Kerry told the Senate appropriations committee at the start of two days of intense congressional foreign policy budget hearings.
“And we expect to know soon whether or not Iran is willing to put together an acceptable, verifiable plan.”
He stressed again that US policy was that Tehran would not acquire a nuclear weapon.
Taking aim at critics, such as Israel, that are opposed to the agreement, Kerry said they did not “know what the deal is.”
“I caution people to wait and see what these negotiations produce. Since 2013, we have been testing whether or we can achieve that goal diplomatically — I don’t know yet,” Kerry insisted.
The so-called P5+1 group of Britain, China, France, Russia, the United States and Germany are trying to strike an accord that would prevent Tehran from developing a nuclear bomb.
In return, the West would ease punishing sanctions imposed on Tehran over its nuclear program, which Iran insists is purely civilian in nature. The next round of talks is due to be held at the political director level on Monday in Switzerland, but US officials have said Kerry could join the negotiations again.