Report: Israel's atomic agency backs Iran nuclear deal

Doug Stanglin | USA TODAY

Israel's Atomic Energy Commission, which advises the Israeli government on nuclear issues, has endorsed the controversial nuclear deal with Iran and believes it will prevent Tehran from obtaining a nuclear bomb, the Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported Thursday.

The liberal Israeli newspaper, quoting a "source familiar with the commission's stance," reported that the body took the position even though it was at odds with the country's political leaders, who strongly oppose the agreement.

Haaretz said the commission declined to comment.

The United States, Britain, France, China, Russia and Germany reached an accord with Iran in July that requires Tehran to curb its nuclear activities in exchange for lifting nuclear-related economic sanctions.

In the United States, congressional Democrats blocked a Republican measure aimed at defeating the agreement, which officially went into effect last Sunday.

In March, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned in an address to a joint session of Congress that the agreement would not block Iran's way to a bomb "but paves its way to a bomb."

Haaretz, Israel's oldest daily newspaper, said it was important to note that the commission based its decision only on the technical aspects of the agreement and did not look at the impact of the lifting of sanctions, which could produce a multi-billion-dollar windfall for Tehran.

The commission oversees Israel's nuclear facilities and has advised the Israeli government in recent years regarding how long it would take Iran to produce a nuclear weapon.

The source told Haaretz that the commission believes it will be able to rely on the analysis and monitoring of Iran's nuclear program that will be carried out by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), and that if the Iranians break the agreement, it will be easily discovered.

The newspaper also reported that the commission believes that the changes made to Iran's Arak nuclear facility will, as the Obama administration argued, prevent it from producing military-grade plutonium, which cannot be produced without inspectors detecting it.

President Obama signed an order Sunday directing his administration to begin issuing waivers to the sanctions once Iran meets certain tests that need to be certified by the IAEA.

Iran’s supreme leader on Wednesday endorsed the deal but warned that any new sanctions against his country would nullify the agreement, according to his official website.

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei endorsed the deal in a letter to moderate President Hassan Rouhani. His statement was also read on state TV.