BICOM

With Iran and the P5+1 powers (US, UK, France, Russia, China and Germany) set to meet again on Wednesday, there is coverage in the Israeli media of the visit yesterday to Paris of an Israeli delegation led by Strategic Affairs Minister Yuval Steinitz.

Israel sees France as the most sympathetic of the negotiating partners to its concerns about a deal which will make too many concessions to Iran. According to reports of the talks in Lausanne, Switzerland on Friday, France was unhappy with the US-led proposals, insisting that UN sanctions remain in place for the time being, and that restrictions on Iranian nuclear research be tightened.

French foreign minister Laurent Fabius told the French media, “France wants an agreement, but a robust one that really guarantees that Iran can have access to civilian nuclear power, but not the atomic bomb.”

Israel remains extremely sceptical of Iranian intentions and, as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made clear in his speech to the US Congress on 3 March, is convinced that the deal currently on the table will ultimately allow Iran to attain a nuclear bomb. Steinitz, one of Netanyahu’s closest allies, will be looking to persuade the French to harden their position further and prevent what Israel sees as a potentially disastrous historic mistake by the international community.