Israel says its campaign against Iran nuclear deal 'successful'

By Zain Khalil

JERUSALEM (AA) - Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid on Sunday termed his country's campaign against signing a deal with Iran over its nuclear program as "successful."

"Israel is conducting a successful diplomatic campaign to stop the nuclear agreement," Lapid said on Twitter before departing to Germany.

He, however, said still there is "a long way to go."

The Israeli premier also praised the positions of France, the UK, and Germany for raising doubts about signing a nuclear deal with Iran.

On Saturday, the three countries accused Iran of “continuing to expand its nuclear program far beyond any plausible civilian justification.”

"In recent months, we have had a quiet and intense dialogue with them, and they were presented with up-to-date intelligence information on Iranian activity at the nuclear sites," Lapid said.

On Saturday, Iran held France, the UK, and Germany responsible for the failure to reach a deal over its nuclear program.

The Iran nuclear deal – officially called the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) – was signed in 2015 by Iran, the US, China, Russia, France, the UK, Germany, and the EU.

Under the agreement, Tehran has committed itself to limiting its nuclear activity to civilian purposes and in return, world powers agreed to drop their economic sanctions against Iran.

Former US President Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew Washington from the agreement in 2018 and re-imposed sanctions on Iran, prompting Tehran to stop complying with the nuclear deal.

*Writing by Ahmed Asmar in Ankara