In Berlin, Lapid says 'time to move past failed negotiations with Iran'

Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid visited Germany Monday in his latest diplomatic effort to persuade Western powers to ditch the agreement with Israel’s arch nemesis Tehran.

Israel has long opposed a revival of the 2015 accord, which has been moribund since then U.S. president Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew in 2018 and reimposed biting sanctions on Tehran.

Momentum that built towards a restored agreement last month has slowed, with the three European nations party to the agreement -- Germany, France and Britain -- expressing doubts about Iran's sincerity over the weekend.

Lapid said it was "time to move past the failed negotiations with Iran.

"They cannot and will not achieve the goal we all share to stop Iran from getting a nuclear weapon."

The 2015 agreement, known formally as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), gave Iran sanctions relief in return for restricting its nuclear program.

Negotiations underway in Vienna since April 2021 have sought to restore the agreement, by lifting the sanctions on Tehran and pushing Iran to fully honor its prior nuclear commitments.

- 'Critical diplomatic opportunity' –

In a joint statement at the weekend, Germany, France and Britain charged that Tehran "has chosen not to seize this critical diplomatic opportunity."

"Instead, Iran continues to escalate its nuclear program way beyond any plausible civilian justification," it added. Iran's foreign ministry criticized those comments as "unconstructive."

Further complicating efforts to revive the deal, the U.N. nuclear watchdog said in a report last week that it "cannot assure" the peaceful nature of Tehran's nuclear program. Iran reaffirmed Monday its "readiness" to cooperate with the International Atomic Energy Agency.

Before flying to Berlin, Lapid told his cabinet that "Israel is conducting a successful diplomatic campaign to stop the nuclear agreement and prevent the lifting of sanctions on Iran.

"It is not over yet," he added. "There is still a long way to go, but there are encouraging signs."

A senior Israeli official told AFP that Israel's understanding was there would be no return to the deal until mid-November, and they were working with partners on a new strategy.

Israel insists Iran would use revenue from sanctions relief to bolster allied groups capable of attacking Israelis, notably Lebanon’s Hezbollah, and Hamas and Islamic Jihad, two key Palestinian militant organizations.

Last month, the European Union, which acts as the mediator of the nuclear talks, put forward a "final" draft of the agreement.

Iran and the U.S. then took turns to respond to the text, with Washington saying on Friday that Tehran's reply was a step "backwards."