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Israel views extension of Iran talks as lesser of two evils

Israel's attitude, favoring no nuclear agreement with Iran over a bad one, resulted in it being denied any direct influence on this phase of the negotiations, even if some of its worries are legitimate and shared by the US Congress.
Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif (L) and Abbas Araghchi, Iran's chief nuclear negotiator, stand on the balcony of Palais Coburg during a meeting between Iran and six world powers in Vienna November 22, 2014. Iran, the United States, Britain, France, Germany, Russia and China began the final round of negotiations on a nuclear deal on Tuesday. Officials close to the talks have said the two sides are unlikely to secure a final agreement and may need to extend the negotiations.      REUTERS/Leonhard Foeger

Officially, Israel kept a relatively low profile in light of the decision Nov. 24 by the P5+1 (the five permanent UN Security Council members and Germany) and Tehran to extend their negotiations to reach a permanent agreement over Iran’s nuclear program.

Nevertheless, Israel did not hide that it preferred this extension over the signing of the terms of agreement being discussed by the parties. “We always said that we would prefer no agreement at all over a bad agreement,” said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in response. In any case, as far as Israel is concerned, extending the talks is nothing more than the least of all possible evils. Though the interim agreement (the Joint Plan of Action) may have put the brakes on Iran’s race to nuclear capability, in Israel it is seen as the original sin, which allowed Iran to enrich uranium in its territory.

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