JERUSALEM (AP) — The Latest on the escalation with Iran after Israel’s prime minister revealed purported evidence of Tehran’s nuclear cover-up (all times local):
3:55 p.m.
Britain’s foreign minister says the alleged new evidence presented by Israel about Iranian nuclear intentions shows why the international nuclear deal with Iran must remain in place.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu late on Monday released information that he said proves Iran lied about not having a nuclear weapons program in the past.
Netanyahu said he hopes the information will persuade the United States and other countries to withdraw from the 2015 international nuclear deal with Iran later this month.
British Foreign Minister Boris Johnson, however, said the presentation “underlines the importance” of keeping the deal’s constraints on Iran in place.
He says the deal is not based on trust about Iran’s intentions, but instead is based on verification and inspections.
Netanyahu provided no direct evidence that Iran has violated the 2015 deal.
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3:30 p.m.
The U.N. nuclear agency says it believes that Iran had a “coordinated” nuclear weapons program in place before 2003, but found “no credible indications” of such work after 2009.
The agency issued its assessment on Tuesday, a day after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu released what he said was a “half ton” of seized documents proving that Iran has lied about its nuclear intentions.
The documents focused on Iranian activities before 2003 and did not provide any explicit evidence that Iran has violated its 2015 nuclear deal with the international community.
Tuesday’s IAEA assessment, which repeated an earlier 2015 report, did not directly mention Netanyahu’s claims.
But it noted that in its 2015 report, its board of governors “declared that its consideration of this issue was closed.”
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10:30 a.m.
An Israeli Cabinet minister says his country’s dramatic seizure of Iran’s nuclear program archive could help deter the Islamic Republic from trying to strike Israel.
Yoav Galant said on Tuesday “anyone who saw the intelligence achievement can also understand what our military capabilities are.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu unveiled what he said was a “half ton” of Iranian nuclear documents collected by Israeli intelligence, claiming it proved Iranian leaders covered up a nuclear weapons program before signing a deal with world powers in 2015.
Netanyahu’s speech Monday was delivered in English and relied on his trademark use of visual aids. He claimed the material shows Iran cannot be trusted and encouraged President Donald Trump to withdraw from the deal.
Trump says the discovery vindicated his criticism of the deal.
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