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Israel's Foreign Minister Rivlin with Federal President Steinmeier:
Photo:
FILIP SINGER / EPA
Because Iran no longer adheres to the agreements of the international nuclear agreement, Israel fears for its security.
At a meeting with Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, Israel’s President Reuven Rivlin appealed to the Europeans to take a “decisive and uncompromising stand” against nuclear armament in the country.
Tehran is at the forefront of extreme forces that want to throw stability in the Middle East out of balance, Rivlin said at a joint press conference with Steinmeier.
The Middle East is facing a potential turning point in the regional balance of power, said Rivlin.
The normalization agreements concluded last year between Israel and several Arab states formed a "glimmer of hope for the strengthening of moderate voices" in the region.
Nevertheless, it is important to stand together against Iran's nuclear strengthening.
Steinmeier emphasized that Germany took Israeli concerns about Iran and the Lebanese Hezbollah very seriously and shared with Israel the goal of "excluding Iran from developing and acquiring nuclear weapons."
Germany also shared the "concern about the regional role of Iran and its missile program."
Steinmeier sees "no progress" from the Trump administration's Middle East policy
With regard to the former US administration under Donald Trump, Steinmeier said that US policy over the past few years had "in our opinion made no progress with regard to a peace solution for the Middle East, and perhaps even exacerbated concerns."
He therefore hoped that the efforts of the new US administration to find such a solution "will bear fruit together with the European partners."
The so-called E3 countries Germany, France and Great Britain are currently trying to revive the nuclear deal with Iran.
Under the then President Donald Trump, the United States withdrew from the agreement in 2018.
Since then, Tehran has also gradually withdrawn from its obligations under the agreement.
The pressure to return to the negotiating table has recently increased.
According to estimates by the Israeli government, Tehran recently only needed six months to produce enough weapons-grade uranium for the construction of a single atomic bomb.
The country would therefore need one to two years to produce a nuclear arsenal.
Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammed Zarif warned on Monday that time was running out for the US to return to the agreement.
After the presidential election in Iran on June 18, there will be a waiting period of almost six months and talks will only be allowed again at the end of the year.
Now it is time to decide whether both sides want to compromise and return to the nuclear deal or go their separate ways in the future.
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fek / dpa / AFP