Geneva, Aug 30 (IANS) Israeli President Isaac Herzog reiterated his country’s concerns about Iran’s nuclear strategy ahead of a possible deal to prevent Tehran from building nuclear weapons.
The international community must never remain silent about Tehran’s attempts to spread terror in the region and wipe Israel off the map, Herzog said during a meeting with Swiss President Ignazio Cassis in Bern on Monday.
“We expect the family of nations to make this point crystal clear: The international community, and the nations that so proudly push for international peace, should not accept calls and efforts to eradicate a sovereign member state of the UN,” dpa news agency quoted the Israeli President as saying.
Iran’s behaviour “cannot be met with silence”, Herzog said.
“Iran’s activities cannot go unpunished. And most critically, such a state must not be allowed to possess nuclear capabilities. Iran must be denied such capabilities by all means necessary.”
Efforts are under way to revive the 2015 Vienna agreement to set controls on Iran’s nuclear programme in exchange for sanctions relief.
Tehran insists its nuclear research activities are solely for civilian use.
However, Israel has repeatedly slammed the current version of the deal.
Herzog’s comments came a day after Prime Minister Yair Lapid warned that Iran would just bide its time until it can return to weapons building and that the deal does not include strict enough monitoring to ensure Iranian compliance.
–IANS
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