In what’s sure to fuel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s angst over the American-forged nuclear development deal with Tehran, the foreign minister of Iran said Friday that all further discussions will have to leave out Israel.
The nation’s state-run news agency, IRNA, quoted Mohammad Javad Zarif as saying that Iran “would not attend a meeting in which the Quds [or Jerusalem] occupy regime participates. We consider the Zionist regime as the biggest danger to the region and the world.”
The remarks follow the six-month agreement reached between the United States, Iran and five other world powers that Israel’s Mr. Netanyahu has described as giving Tehran all the power.
He slammed the agreement as a “historic mistake,” and said the international heads of state ought instead of drawn a pact that called for Iran to disarm, The Times of Israel reported.
Iran’s foreign minister issued the warning based on hearing of Israel’s possible involvement in the next round of nuclear talks, due in six months or so, when the current deal deadlines.
• Cheryl K. Chumley can be reached at cchumley@washingtontimes.com.
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