BICOM

US Secretary of State John Kerry told Israeli television that the United States “guarantees” it will prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons and pledged continued support for Israel.

Iran and the P5+1 powers (US, UK, France, Russia, China and Germany) agreed a framework to a comprehensive deal on Iran’s nuclear programme a few weeks ago. It paved the way for further negotiations which have now begun over the details of a potential long-term accord, which must be agreed by June. However, both sides have since appeared to be at odds over aspects of the nascent deal, including key items such as the pace of sanctions relief and future Iranian nuclear research.

Kerry sought to clarify core issues in an interview with Channel Ten. He pledged, “I say to every Israeli that today we have the ability to stop [the Iranians] if they decided to move quickly to a bomb. And I absolutely guarantee that in the future we will have the ability to know what they are doing, so that we can still stop them if they decided to move to a bomb.” Kerry added that, “We will have inspectors in there [Iranian facilities] every single day. That is not a 10-year deal; that is forever.”

Kerry said that the nascent deal “will in fact protect Israel” and that Washington “will never disappoint Israel.” Underscoring American commitment to Israel, Kerry said, “Every week we step up to defend Israel in one forum or another in the world … to push back against unfair, biased, bigoted, degrading, inappropriate assaults on Israel’s sovereignty, integrity.”

However, Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has been a vocal critic of the nuclear deal currently under discussion, continued to warn against its provisions. During a visit yesterday by US Senator Rob Portman, Netanyahu said, “We think there needs to be a different deal, a better deal,” as the agreement currently under consideration “does endanger Israel.”