Officials at Israel’s PM Office were outraged to learn of ‘last minute’ added clause on Page 142 stipulating that world powers will actively help Iran thwart attempts to undermine its nuclear program.

By Shlomo Cesana

One of the clauses in the nuclear deal reached between world powers and Iran last week guarantees that the world powers will assist Iran in thwarting attempts to undermine its nuclear program, Israel Hayom learned Sunday.

EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini and Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif in Vienna, last week – Photo: Reuters

Article 10 of the deal, included in a section titled “Reactors, Fuels, Facilities, and Processes,” stipulates that world powers and Iran will foster “cooperation through training and workshops to strengthen Iran’s ability to protect against, and respond to, nuclear security threats, including sabotage, as well as to enable effective and sustainable nuclear security and physical protection systems.”

Israeli officials have warned time and again against the loopholes in the deal, and National Security Council officials scrutinizing the agreement said the clause, which appears on Page 142 of the agreement, is very disturbing, as it suggests there is an international commitment to block any attempt to compromise Iran’s nuclear facilities over the next decade.

Recent years have seen various mishaps befall the Iranian nuclear program, from powerful computer viruses to the death of nuclear scientists, which world media outlets have often attributed to foreign intelligence agencies, including the Mossad. The article suggests the P5+1 — the U.S., U.K., Russia, China, France and Germany — will actively try to prevent such incidents, as well as any potential military operation against Iran, making such options far more complicated and dangerous.

Sources privy to the negotiations said Article 10 did not appear in the interim deal inked between world powers and Iran in April, but was added to the final agreement at the last minute, allegedly over Iran’s desire to protect its nuclear program, which it claims serves solely civilian purposes.

The problematic stipulation vexed the Prime Minister’s Office, with one official saying it was “inconceivable.”

“The U.S. has to protect Iran as it pursues nuclear weapons because its program is allegedly civilian?” the official wondered.

National Infrastructure, Energy and Water Resources Minister Yuval Steinitz said Sunday that Article 10 was disconcerting, as it was “open to interpretation.”

Steinitz noted that Israel was focused on “illustrating the fundamental deficiencies in the deal, such as in the provisions detailing oversight over Iran’s nuclear facilities, which require that [International Atomic Energy Agency] inspectors give Iran 24 days’ notice. It’s a joke.

“The fact that 12 years from now Iran could be days away from a nuclear weapon, all in exchange for relative calm, means the world powers have legitimized [Iran’s] desire to become a nuclear threshold state.”

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu convened the Diplomatic-Security Cabinet on Sunday to discuss Israel’s response to the deal. He emphasized that Congress could still prevent the deal from being implemented.

“If anyone thought the far-reaching concessions offered to Iran would make it change its policies, they were proved wrong by Iranian leader [Ayatollah Ali] Khamenei’s defiant and aggressive speech over the weekend,” Netanyahu said. “The Iranians have stated, in no uncertain terms, that they will continue to fight the U.S. and its allies, primarily Israel.”

View original Israel Hayom publication at:  http://www.israelhayom.com/site/newsletter_article.php?id=26999