Israel Determined to Confront 'Iranian-Guided Terror', Foreign Minister Says

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Israel considers Iran's nuclear aspirations a threat of regional scale and is poised to protect its citizens, Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid told Sputnik.

"The destabilizing force within Syria is Iran, and Israel cannot tolerate, not in the long term and not in the short term, Iranian presence and the way Iran is exporting terror into the region... We are going to do something about it, we are not going to sit on our hands, waiting for Iranian-guided terror to hit our citizens," Lapid said.

Lapid refused to specify whether the Israeli comprehensive strategy against Iran included diplomatic means, sanctions or possible military action, but said that a "credible threat" should be shown to Iran, as the country is on the verge of acquiring nuclear weapons and poses an "existential threat" to Israel.

Iran Acquiring Nuclear Weapons May Trigger Chain Reaction

Lapid added that Iran's acquisition of nuclear weapons could trigger a nuclear arms race in the region.

"There will be kind of a salami effect on the entire region if Iran becomes a nuclear power, so we have to make sure it does not happen," Lapid said.

Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Egypt would start developing their own nuclear weapons, while the spike in radical Islamism in Afghanistan, neighboring nuclear Pakistan, could exacerbate the security crisis, the minister said.

The international nuclear deal, the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), which was aimed at curbing the Iranian nuclear ambitions, showed no tangible results, neither did the Vienna talks succeed in resuming full compliance of all parties with the accord, Lapid said.

Since April, the joint commission of the international nuclear deal known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) has held sessions in Vienna in a bid to revive the accord, shattered after the US withdrawal in 2018. Israel opposed the negotiations, saying that Iran was just playing for time while developing its nuclear program. US-Israel relations have deteriorated amid differences on the JCPOA.