BICOM

US Secretary of Defence Chuck Hagel said Israel is justifiably concerned about Iran’s nuclear development and that Israeli pressure has pushed Tehran to negotiate with the international community.

Speaking to Bloomberg’s Jeffrey Goldberg, Hagel said Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “is legitimately concerned, as any prime minister of Israel has been, about the future security needs of their country.” Hagel then commented that in addition to international sanctions, which “have done tremendous economic damage” to Iran, “I think that Iran is responding to the constant pressure from Israel, knowing that Israel believes them to be an existential threat.”

Hagel’s comments come just days before the resumption of talks between representatives of the P5+1 forum (US, UK, China, Russia, France and Germany) and Iranian officials, scheduled to take place on Thursday in Geneva. The Times claims this morning that P5+1 powers will offer to unlock some of the money from Iranian oil revenues, which has been frozen under the sanctions against Iran, if Tehran agrees to halt all nuclear activity while in-depth negotiations continue.

Meanwhile, massive protests were held in Tehran yesterday, at which American and Israeli flags were burnt and crowds called for the destruction of both countries. The Guardian said the annual event to mark the storming of the US Embassy in Tehran in 1979 was the largest such demonstration in years.

Speaking in Jerusalem following a meeting with his Polish counterpart, Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu said that “America and the P5+1 should listen to the chants of ‘Death to America” in Tehran, [and] give no discounts to Tehran.”