Benjamin Netanyahu: Israel has ‘proof’ Iran still secretly working on nuclear programme
Israeli PM claims to have 'half a tonne of material' that shows the Islamic republic has defied the nuclear agreement
Iran has deceived the world by secretly working on its nuclear programme since signing the 2015 agreement and Israel has 55,000 documents to prove it, said Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday.
The dramatic announcement, just days before Donald Trump is due to announce whether the United States is pulling out of the ground-breaking international nuclear accord, was immediately rubbished by Iran’s foreign minister.
Speaking in English in a highly-publicised address, Netanyahu showed part of what he said were “exact copies” of secret documents obtained by Israeli intelligence from Iranian capital Tehran.
Showing pictures of what he said were Iran’s secret document storage, he said: “In a great intelligence achievement, Israel obtained half a tonne of material inside these vaults. We got 55,000 pages and another 50,000 files on 180 CDs.”
Saying they included “incriminating” documents, charts, presentations, blueprints, photos and videos, he said: “These files conclusively prove that Iran was brazenly lying when it said it never had a nuclear weapons programme,” he said, in a Tel Aviv address headed ‘Atomic Archive.’
He first the documents showed that Iran lied about never having a nuclear programme and lied to atomic inspectors, adding: “Work is continuing.”
Commentators said it was important that Netanyahu did not present any documents showing that “work is continuing,” and said it was likely that Trump had been told about the cache of documents.
It remains to be seen whether the documents will be shared or alter the commitment to continue honouring the nuclear agreement of the European counter-parties, including Britain, France and Germany, or of Russia and China.
Netanyahu said he was “sure [Trump] will do the right thing, the right thing for America, the right thing for Israel”.
Former IDF spokesman Peter Lerner tweeted: “Whatever you think of @netanyahu the level of intelligence the Mossad has gathered, analysed and concluded on the Iranian nuclear program is mind-blowing.”
Watch Netanyahu’s full address here:
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