Iran’s president gave indications during an interview that his nation’s deal with western powers over their nuclear program was more than just an attempt to ease international sanctions.
Hassan Rouhani said that Israel has become an isolated country after Iran reached a deal with the U.S, Russia, Great Britain and other western powers.
While not referring to Israel by name, Rouhani told Iranian state TV during an interview about his first 100 days in office that “our enemies are isolated” and referred to the enemy as “an illegitimate, occupier regime”, language used by previous Iranian leaders to describe Israel.
Israel had criticized the deal as a “historic mistake” and said Iran’s intentions were not what western government leaders had claimed.
President Obama and other world leaders were hailing an agreement with Iran to put some controls on that country’s nuclear program but throughout the Middle East the news of the agreement was met with anger and skepticism.
Saudi Arabian officials were furious that American negotiators and those connected to the Obama administration had not briefed them at all regarding the deal with Iran. A senior advisor to the Saudi royal family said they had been lied to and that the Obama administration had hidden information from them. He said Saudi leaders were not necessarily upset with the deal but the way it was handled by Washington.
The Saudi government eventually issued a moderately supportive statement about the deal.
“This agreement could be a first step towards a comprehensive solution for Iran’s nuclear program, if there are good intentions,” the statement read.
Meanwhile, Israel reiterated their opposition to the deal. Israeli Deputy Defense Minister Danny Danon said that all options are on the table for his nation.
“We are not in a position of making a mistake or to gamble with our future,” Danon said. “That is why I am saying it very clear. All options are still on the table. And if we see that Iran continues with the effort to build a nuclear bomb, we will do whatever is necessary to protect ourselves.”
As world powers meet with Iranian negotiators over that country’s nuclear program, Iran’s supreme leader has made some strong anti-Semitic declarations against the nation of Israel.
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said Tehran will only make limited concessions during the negotiations and then blasted Israel saying they were “the rabid dog of the region.”
“The Zionist regime is a regime whose pillars are extremely shaky and is doomed to collapse,” Khamenei said to AFP news agency.
French President Francois Hollande said that the comments by Khamenei were “unacceptable” but did not think they would derail the negotiations.
Israel and Saudi Arabia have both expressed concerns that the western nations negotiating with Iran would rush to ease sanctions without actually getting Iran to give up anything of significance.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has ordered his housing minister to take a second look at plans to build more than 20,000 new homes in the West Bank.
Netanyahu said the move would create an unnecessary confrontation with the international community at the same time the Israeli government is asking the west to not make a deal easing sanctions on Iran.
The Palestinians said they would appeal any construction by the Israelis to the U.N. and that they would immediately end peace talks.
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry last week said any settlement activity by Israel would be “illegitimate” and state department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said the U.S. would be seeking further explanation from the Israelis on the construction issue.
A push from the Obama Administration to ease sanctions against Iran even if that country does not stop their nuclear program is causing severe tension between Washington and Israel.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu took the rare step of blasting the U.S. in public demanding to know why President Obama was in such a hurry to lift sanctions against a country that has sworn to destroy Israel.
Some analysts believe that the current push by the Obama Administration to ease or remove sanctions against Iran for their nuclear program is an indication they’ve given up on attempting to broker a peace deal between Israel and Palestinians.
The White House issued a statement saying that President Obama had called Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu on Friday to talk about the negotiations with Iran and to reaffirm the U.S. commitment to keeping that country from obtaining a nuclear bomb. However, the statement did not include a reference the two men discussed the peace talks which is the first time a phone conversation between the leaders did not include that topic.
Israeli officials say that Obama’s hurried negotiations with Iran have stripped away most of the goodwill he built up during a March visit to Israel.
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry met with leaders of Israel and Palestine Wednesday in attempts to move peace talks through stumbling blocks.
However, sources close to the negotiations say that both sides have brought up new issues that could possibly derail the talks. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu expressed concerns to Kerry.
“I’m concerned about their progress because I see the Palestinians continuing with incitements, continuing to create artificial crises, continuing to avoid and run away from the historic decisions that are needed to make a genuine peace,” Netanyahu said.
The Palestinians objected to new Israeli construction on the West Bank and Jerusalem.
Kerry also announced $75 million in aid to the Palestinian Authority’s High Impact Micro-Infrastructure Initiative.
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry is in Israel and plans to meet with both Israeli and Palestinian leaders in an attempt to restart the stalled peace talks.
“I come here without any illusions about the difficulties, but I come here determined to work,” Kerry told reporters.
The talks have shown little signs of progress and Kerry is denying speculation that he is proposing a new interim peace deal. Kerry is expected to continue to push the Obama administration’s “two state” solution for the region.
Kerry will meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in Bethlehem on Wednesday.
Israel is demanding that any peace deal include Palestinian acknowledgement of Israel as a Jewish state.
Israeli warplanes struck a target near the Syrian port city of Latakia Thursday night according to senior Obama administration officials.
The target was a missile storage site. Middle eastern press outlets reported the explosions but the Israeli government has not confirmed they were responsible for the attack.
Israel had long said that they would take any step to stop Syria from providing weapons to Hezbollah or any other group designated as terrorists. The Israeli government has also said they would stop weapons that could be used to attack Israel from being taken into Lebanon.
Terrorist group Hezbollah has entered the Syrian civil war backing up the government forces of Bashir al-Assad. The attack is not the first time Israel has attacked weapons believed to be designated for Hezbollah. Israeli forces attacked a convoy in January transporting weapons from Syria to Lebanon.
New homes are about to be built in East Jerusalem.
The Israeli government admitted that construction of 1,500 housing units at Ramat Shlomo has been given approval. The building is one of four projects approved by the government.
Analysts believe the move by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is an attempt to ease anger by Israeli citizens over the release of 26 Palestinian prisoners who had been convicted of crimes related to the murder of Israelis.
The permits also build public buildings and gardens in the same region as the new housing units.
An estimated 200,000 Israeli citizens live in East Jerusalem with double that number of Palestinians.
Israel is releasing 26 long held Palestinian prisoners as part of a deal worked out by the United States to resume peace talks.
The release is the second of four scheduled under the agreement.
All of the prisoners were convicted of murder before the 1993 Oslo agreements between Israel and the PLO. The prisoners have served between 19 and 28 years in Israeli prisons.
The announcement of the prisoner release comes on the heels of a second announcement, Israel will continue building Jewish settlements in the West Bank.
Palestinians walked away from the negotiation table in 2010 over Jewish settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.
