Israel Bitter As World Hails Positive Iran Talks

[Purveyor]

By Jean-Luc Renaudie (AFP) – 15 minutes ago

Jerusalem — The world's positive response to the latest nuclear talks with Iran drew bitter scepticism from Israel, which warned its Western allies Thursday they risked being duped into easing sanctions prematurely.

Energy Minister Silvan Shalom, a former foreign minister, went further, accusing the European Union and the United States of being more interested in the resumption of Iranian oil exports than with addressing an issue that Israel regards as a threat to its very existence.

Washington, which has had no diplomatic relations with Tehran since the aftermath of the 1979 Islamic revolution, said Iranian negotiators had shown a greater level of "seriousness and substance" in this week's talks than ever before.

But Israel, which has mounted a massive lobbying campaign to keep up the economic and military pressure on its number-one foe, insisted Iran's intentions could be proved only by concrete steps to wind down its nuclear programme, not by "sweet talk" from its new president.

"Iran will be judged by its actions and not by its presentations," a senior Israeli official said.

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[KG]

1. the lack of diplomatic relations with iran is just ridiculous.