Headlines
Obama rejects n-deal conditioned on Iran's recognition of Israel
Washington, April 7
US President Barack Obama
on Monday dismissed a suggestion by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin
Netanyahu that any nuclear deal with Iran be conditioned on the Islamic
republic's recognition of Israel.
"The notion that we would
condition Iran not getting nuclear weapons in a verifiable deal on Iran
recognising Israel is really akin to saying that we won't sign a deal
unless the nature of the Iranian regime completely transforms," Obama
told the National Public Radio in an interview.
"And that is, I think, a fundamental misjudgment," he added.
The
Obama administration is trying to sell to sceptics both at home and
abroad a framework deal reached last week with Iran, under which Tehran
agrees to limit its sensitive nuclear activities in exchange for phased
lifting of sanctions by the US, the European Union and the UN Security
Council.
Iran and the so-called P5+1 group comprising the US,
Britain, France, Russia, China plus Germany are set to work even harder
over the next three months to flesh out the framework deal with details
to make for a final and comprehensive accord by the end of June.
Netanyahu,
who had further strained his relations with the Obama administration by
criticising the nuclear negotiations with Iran, had blasted the
tentative pact as one that "would threaten the survival of Israel",
insisting on "clear and unambiguous Iranian commitment of Israel's right
to exist" be included in any final agreement with Iran.
"I want to return to this point: We want Iran not to have nuclear
weapons precisely because we can't bank on the nature of the regime
changing," Obama told NPR. "That's exactly why we don't want to have
nuclear weapons. If suddenly Iran transformed itself to Germany or
Sweden or France then there would be a different set of conversations
about their nuclear infrastructure."