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The Interim Agreement with Iran Must Not Become a Permanent Arrangement

(Institute for National Security Studies) Amos Yadlin - Despite his firm opposition to the agreement - or perhaps because of it - Prime Minister Netanyahu can take credit for an improvement in the agreement, compared to what was proposed to Iran two weeks earlier. He has helped transform a "very bad" agreement into an agreement that can be lived with - for six months. On the plus side is that this is the first time since 2003 that the Iranian nuclear program has been stopped and is even being rolled back, albeit to a limited degree. Even if this is only a slight improvement, the change in direction is significant. In the final agreement, it will be necessary to make certain that the time it takes Iran to break out to a nuclear weapon is measured in years rather than in months. Israel must resume a close and intensive dialogue with the Americans regarding the seven key issues needed in a final agreement: the level of enrichment in the Iranian program, the number of centrifuges, the inventory of uranium to be removed from Iran, the future of the Fordow site, the non-operation of the plutonium reactor in Arak, the extent of future supervision of the program, and the closing of open questions concerning weapons issues. It is not at all clear that a final agreement can be reached with the Iranians - especially if the economic and military threats are not maintained. Israel must therefore prepare a Plan B to include a guarantee from the Americans that there will be no extension of the preliminary agreement and that it will not evolve into a permanent arrangement. Maj.-Gen. (res.) Amos Yadlin, former head of IDF Military Intelligence, is director of Tel Aviv University's Institute for National Security Studies.
2013-11-27 00:00:00
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