This article originated in FILE – Iran’s Foreign Minister Javad Zarif holds a lecture at Stockholm International Peace Research Institute in Stockholm, Sweden, Aug. 21, 2019.A U.S.-led coalition ousted Saddam in a 2003 invasion of Iraq, triggering a years-long conflict in that nation.Zarif, whom the U.S. sanctioned in July, has used Twitter frequently to mock and criticize the U.S. and Israel for their punitive actions and statements toward Iran.Netanyahu gave his latest presentation eight days before his ruling nationalist Likud party faces voters in a parliamentary election in which he is seeking to extend his 10 years in power. Israel called the election after a previous vote in April ended inconclusively, with Netanyahu unable to secure a Knesset majority for a coalition government with smaller nationalist and religious allies.Israeli opposition leader Benny Gantz, who heads the center-left Blue and White party that is Likud’s main election rival, criticized the timing of Netanyahu’s presentation.איראן גרעינית היא סכנה ליציבות האזור, במלחמה מולה אין קואליציה ואופוזיציה. תמוהה העובדה שהמידע מפורסם שעות בודדות לאחר קריסת חוק המצלמות. השימוש של נתניהו במידע ביטחוני רגיש לצורכי תעמולה מעיד על שיקול דעת לקוי. גם בימיו האחרונים כראש ממשלה נתניהו דואג רק לנתניהו.— בני גנץ – Benny Gantz (@gantzbe) Benny Gantz, the leader of Blue and White party, speaks at an event hosted by the Tel Aviv International Salon ahead of general election, in Tel Aviv, Israel, Sept. 9, 2019.Gantz, however, also said, “Netanyahu’s use of sensitive security information for propaganda purposes indicates poor judgment. In his last days as prime minister, Netanyahu only cares about himself.”The Times of Israel news site quoted a diplomatic source who refuted the criticism that Netanyahu was making a revelation about Iran to seek a political boost one week before the election.The news site quoted the diplomatic source as saying Israeli officials recommended that Netanyahu reveal the information immediately in response to a news conference by the International Atomic Energy Agency’s acting director general, Cornel Feruta, earlier Monday.Speaking to reporters in Vienna after returning from a visit to Iran a day earlier, Feruta said, “Time is of the essence” for Iran to answer IAEA questions about the “completeness of … declarations” regarding its nuclear-related commitments under a 2015 deal with world powers. Trump pulled the United States out of the deal, which offered Tehran international sanctions relief in return for constraints on its nuclear activities, last year, and unilaterally reimposed U.S. sanctions. He said the deal was not tough enough on Iran.Feruta did not provide details of the IAEA’s unanswered questions to Iran. But in a Sunday report, the Reuters news agency cited two unnamed diplomats as saying IAEA samples taken at another alleged Iranian nuclear site revealed by Netanyahu last year showed traces of uranium that Iran has yet to explain. Speaking to the U.N. General Assembly in September 2018, Netanyahu called the Tehran site a secret atomic warehouse, alleging Iran had used it to house radioactive material that it later spread throughout the city.Iranian officials have dismissed that revelation as false.In another development Monday, the IAEA said its inspectors confirmed that Iran is preparing to use more advanced centrifuges capable of refining uranium, a key component of nuclear weapons. In a statement, the IAEA said the equipment that Iran has “prepared for testing” includes several types of centrifuges prohibited under the 2015 nuclear deal. It said none of them had been tested by the end of its latest inspection on Sunday.Iranian officials had previewed the move related to advanced centrifuges last week as their latest scaling back of compliance with the 2015 accord. They have said the scaling back is meant to pressure the deal’s remaining signatories, particularly European Union powers, to compensate Tehran for the economic damage inflicted by intensifying U.S. sanctions.Despite openly taking steps to violate limitations specified in the agreement, Iran has said it will continue to work with the IAEA to allow inspections of its nuclear facilities.
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