Through its opposition to a return the Iran nuclear deal, Jerusalem has in effect come to terms with Iran being a nuclear threshold state, according to a Western diplomat involved in the Vienna talks who spoke to Israel Hayom.
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Alongside the opposition, Israeli officials know they will not have any meaningful impact on the US administration's stance. The question of whether or not an agreement will be reached in the end is largely dependent on Iran.
According to the diplomatic official, should the current status remains intact, this would be tantamount to accepting Iran as a nuclear threshold state. Tehran has been enriching uranium up to 60% purity for months, which all experts agree is beyond the percentage necessary for a civilian nuclear program. Should this situation continue, and its advanced centrifuges continue to operate, Iran would reach breakout status in a few weeks.
Nevertheless, according to the diplomat, allowing the situation to remain as is would be unprecedented for Israel and stray from the red line set out by then-Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a UN speech in 2012. In that address, Netanyahu said, "The red line should be drawn … before Iran completes the second stage of nuclear enrichment necessary to make a bomb. Before Iran gets to a point where it's a few months away or a few weeks away from amassing enough enriched uranium to make a nuclear weapon.
While Iran may have made progress in its nuclear program, it has yet to cross the red line delineated by the former premier. In the absence of a nuclear deal, Tehran will reach and even cross the red line.
Nevertheless, Iran lacks some of the components necessary for making a bomb. As a result, even in the absence of an agreement, it will still be far off from acquiring military nuclear capabilities.
