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Israel Believes It Can Degrade Iran's Nuclear Capabilities
(Foreign Policy) Josh Rogin - Israel believes it has the capability to succeed in degrading Iran's nuclear capabilities, former Israeli ambassador and special envoy Zalman Shoval said in an interview Friday. He rejected a reported deal in which Iran would gradually suspend the production of uranium but only after a full suspension of sanctions. He also said that the Obama administration's red line - that Iran would not be allowed to possess a nuclear weapon - was insufficient as far as Israel's security was concerned. The red line for Israel is when the Iranians have produced enough fissionable material from which they can produce at least a dirty bomb within a short time, he said. "Israel doesn't pretend that it can totally eliminate Iran's nuclear program," he said. "But the general view in Israel is that we could stop the Iranian effort for 3 to 5 years." The Israeli government doesn't see any evidence that sanctions would convince Iranian leaders to change course on their nuclear program, Shoval said. Even the collapse of the Iranian currency is not going to cause the Iranian regime to abandon its pursuit of nuclear weapons, he argued.