BICOM

Israel’s National Security Adviser Yaakov Amidror travelled to Brussels yesterday for meetings with European officials ahead of the second round of talks between Iran and six world powers (the five permanent UN Security Council members and Germany), according to report in Haaretz. Amidror’s trip reflects Israel’s concern about a possibile deal that would ultimately enable Iran to continue uranium enrichment.

Amidror met yesterday with Helga Schmid, who serves as the European Union’s deputy secretary general for political affairs, under Catherine Ashton. Schmid is currently coordinating preparatory talks with Iran ahead of the second round of negotiations on its nuclear programme, scheduled for 23 May in Baghdad, Iraq.

The Israeli-EU talks follow earlier meeting between Amidror and Rissia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov two weeks ago. Russia has proposed an agreement that would prevent Iran from installing new centrifuges and cut down on those which are not in use. A recent report in the Los Angeles Times suggest that the US may also agree to enable Iran to produce low-enriched uranium for civilian purposes, but would prohibit it from enriching uranium to weapon-grade levels.

At a meeting of the Foreign Press Association in Jerusalem on Monday, Defence Minster Ehud Barak reiterated Israel’s concern that Iran may use talks to make further progress in its nuclear programme. “I may sound pessimistic, but the state of Israel cannot afford to be duped.” Reiterating Israel’s longstanding position that all options should remain on the table with regards to Iran, Barak conceded that a military option “would be complicated with certain associated risks. But a radical Islamic Republic of Iran with nuclear weapons would be far more dangerous both for the region and, indeed, the world.”