Talker: Don't trust Benjamin Netanyahu on claims about Iran's nuclear program Many have reason to believe the Israeli prime minister is being a little too dramatic when pointing the finger at Iran.

USA TODAY

Show Caption Hide Caption Iranians in Tehran react to Netanyahu's nuclear allegations Iranians in Tehran react to Netanyahu's nuclear allegations Video provided by AFP

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu revealed that his nation’s intelligence service lifted thousands of documents from a secret facility in Iran. He said they prove that Iran lied about the scope and sophistication of its program to build a nuclear weapon.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s cynical presentation revealed nothing new about Iran’s nuclear activities and, contrary to his intention, further demonstrated the necessity of the nuclear deal.

Virtually all of the material he reviewed has been known for years. In 2007, the U.S. intelligence community concluded “with high confidence” that Iran halted all active weaponization activities by 2003.

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) reviewed the past military dimensions of Iran’s program and issued a statement this week reiterating that there are “no credible indications of activities in Iran relevant to the development of a nuclear explosive device after 2009.”

By reviewing this old news about Iran’s pre-Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action activities, Netanyahu was fear-mongering in an attempt to undermine the deal.

Meanwhile, President Trump is expected to abrogate the Iran nuclear deal later this month, despite the fact that the IAEA has repeatedly confirmed Iran’s compliance. Trump’s own military and intelligence officials concur that Iran is complying, and that America should stay in this deal.

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Trump’s hostility toward the deal isn’t based on its specifics, nor is it based on a rational assessment of the Iranian threat. Instead, Trump hates the nuclear deal because his predecessor brought it to fruition and he has long been determined to undo Barack Obama’s legacy.

If Trump does scuttle the Iran deal, it will be a rogue action with grave implications for global peace and stability. Iran will likely consider itself unburdened by the various restrictions on its enrichment capabilities, which will then lend credence to arguments, such as those of Trump’s top advisers John Bolton and Mike Pompeo, that war is the only option.

The same voices that pushed for the disastrous war in Iraq are now pushing for scrapping this successful non-proliferation agreement with Iran. War with Iran would be an order of magnitude worse than what we saw in Iraq. Unfortunately, it seems America has not learned the lessons of history.

John Glaser is the director of Foreign Policy Studies at the Cato Institute.

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What are others saying?

Max Boot, The Washington Post: "There is nothing in Israel’s revelations that contradicts that assessment of the U.S. intelligence community that Iran is complying with the terms of the nuclear deal. In February, Dan Coats, director of national intelligence, stated that 'the JCPOA has extended the amount of time Iran would need to produce enough fissile material for a nuclear weapon from a few months to about one year,' and that it 'has also enhanced the transparency of Iran’s nuclear activities.' Just last week, Defense Secretary Jim Mattis told Congress that, after reading the entire text of the nuclear agreement three times, he was impressed that 'the verification, what is in there, is actually pretty robust.' These sober assessments hardly justify President Trump’s hyperbolic claims that the Iran nuclear agreement is the 'worst deal ever.' It is, in fact, a successful deal that appears to be constricting Iran’s nuclear development — just as intended."

Prime Minister Netanyahu is doing an amazing job making the case for an international agreement to provide unprecedented monitoring and inspections of Iran's nuclear program to ensure it cannot produce nuclear weapons.#IranDeal — J Street (@jstreetdotorg) April 30, 2018

James Carafano, The Daily Signal: "These revelations will only strengthen the administration’s belief that the Iran nuclear deal is inadequate to derail Iran’s nuclear threat. Reports that suggest the U.S. is trying to amend the deal are accurate. What the administration wants is agreement from Germany, France and the United Kingdom to add more demands and restrictions to the deal. If those European partners don’t agree, then the U.S. will nix the deal and press on."

"If they restart their nuclear program, they will have bigger

problems than they ever had before," Trump said of #Iran today.



But if you don't kill the #IranDeal, Mr. Trump, Tehran won't restart it.



So don't kill it.



Unless, of course, you're looking for a pretext for war... — Trita Parsi (@tparsi) April 24, 2018

Chicago Tribune, editorial: "Netanyahu’s theatrical presentation was designed to persuade Trump to exit the Iran deal. It also highlighted a central truth: Iran is a dangerous foe, never to be allowed to build a nuclear weapon. The question is whether achieving that goal is easier with Tehran inside the deal, or outside."

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Readers sound off:

Netanyahu would have Israel “defended” to the last drop of American blood. This guy has zero credibility on this issue. Netanyahu was against this nuclear deal with Iran from the beginning, and now he is under criminal investigation. President Trump is getting played on this big time.

— Dave Chandler

You can’t make nuclear weapons without enriching uranium or reprocessing plutonium with a nuclear reactor. These activities are so specialized and resource intensive, they are incredibly easy to track. Even if the tin-foil hat conspiracy theories that Iran is still conducting weapons research are 100% true, they would still be delayed for a long time considering they simply lack the weapons-grade materials thanks to the P5+1 deal.

— Zheng Chen

Forgive the skepticism, but is it a coincidence that this story comes out just as Netanyahu’s buddy in the White House is looking to scrap the deal and this makes the perfect excuse — which also fits in with Netanyahu’s plan?

— Irv Wengrow

Iran has repeatedly vowed to wipe Israel from the planet. If you don’t believe Netanyahu, do you at least believe Iran?

— Chad Clausen

This is evidence of how foolish President Obama and former secretary of State John Kerry were to give Iran as much as $150 billion plus a plane load of $1.8 billion in cash, sign a meaningless document, and claim victory. This example along with many others will document Obama as the worst negotiator in the history of the world.

— John Russell

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