Israeli officials warned that the emerging agreement between Iran and the United States is “a bad deal,” saying it fails to address key threats posed by Tehran beyond its nuclear program.
“The framework agreement is not good, and even if a final agreement is signed and all enriched uranium is removed from Iran, which is a big ‘if’, the deal does not address the issue of Iran’s missile program or its network of regional proxies,” one official said.
Officials in Jerusalem are also concerned that the agreement could curb Israel’s freedom of action in Lebanon and potentially restrict its ability to act against Iranian threats across the region.
“Nothing is final yet, but this is an agreement that could affect whether and how we are able to operate,” an Israeli official told The Jerusalem Post.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu convened a small group of ministers and senior security officials on Sunday evening to discuss the emerging deal.
Israel warns US-Iran emerging deal inadequate to deal with proxies
Israel’s assessment is that US President Donald Trump currently wants to reach an agreement with Iran, and that the only figure who could ultimately block it is Iranian Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei.
“In the end, the decision will come down to him. It is possible that, just as his father rejected a new nuclear agreement at the last minute in 2022, he could take the same course of action,” an Israeli official said.
However, a senior US official told reporters that America assumes that Khamenei has at least "in principle, given his approval to the agreement.”
A Trump administration official told reporters on Sunday that there was a "broad commitment" on the principles of the proposed agreement, and that the Trump team feels positive about where negotiations stand. The official also noted that efforts to close a deal were still underway.
However, White House officials also told reporters that they did not expect a deal to be reached on Sunday and believed that Khamenei would take several days to approve any deal.
Israel's defense establishment’s working assumption is that Iran’s current regime will never fully abandon its nuclear program. Rather, Israeli officials believe Tehran will pursue agreements it sees as useful for buying time and delaying confrontations that could weaken its capabilities.
According to experts, if Iran agrees to give up 460 kilograms of uranium enriched to 60%, transferring the material to a third party, such as the US or Russia, would be the simpler part of the process. The greater challenge would be creating a reliable inspection and monitoring mechanism for nuclear facilities across Iran, particularly regarding the restoration or production of centrifuges.
It is also unclear what will happen to nuclear infrastructure that sustained significant damage in strikes by the IDF and the US military.
Any agreement that allows Iran to leave its nuclear infrastructure in place under the label of a “civilian project” would be viewed in Israel as a failure of the campaign.
In addition, defense officials confirmed to Walla that one of the sticking points in the agreement is the demand by the extremist regime in Tehran to include Hezbollah in the ceasefire agreement and prevent Israel from continuing its military campaign. Senior defense officials strongly oppose this demand.