- Title: Coming weeks are decisive for Iran nuclear deal, Merkel says
- Date: 10th October 2021
- Summary: JERUSALEM (OCTOBER 10, 2021) (REUTERS) GERMAN CHANCELLOR ANGELA MERKEL AND ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER NAFTALI BENNETT ARRIVING AT NEWS CONFERENCE (SOUNDBITE) (German) GERMAN CHANCELLOR, ANGELA MERKEL, SAYING: "I never though the JCPOA (Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action - known commonly as the Iran nuclear deal) was ideal but it is better than no deal at all. One can see that differently. And now we are in a very difficult situation because the new U.S. administration has presented the prospect of a return (to the talks) but day after day goes by and Iran shows no sign of starting the talks again." BENNETT SPEAKING DURING CONFERENCE (SOUNDBITE) (German) GERMAN CHANCELLOR, ANGELA MERKEL, SAYING: "But with every day the uranium enrichment is increased. And that is a critical situation about which we need to talk in the 3 plus 3 talks. I also see a responsibility for Russia and China here, since if the JCPOA is no longer doing what it's meant to do then that's very difficult, so we are now in very decisive weeks for this deal." BENNETT AND MERKEL AT PRESSER (SOUNDBITE) (German) GERMAN CHANCELLOR, ANGELA MERKEL, SAYING: "Germany campaigns for the message to Iran being unmistakably that they must quickly return to the negotiating table." BENNETT SPEAKING AT CONFERENCE (SOUNDBITE) (Hebrew) ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER, NAFTALI BENNETT, SAYING: "The Iranian nuclear program has reached a stage that requires leadership. Acceptance of Iran becoming a nuclear threshold state will be a moral stain on the free world and will threaten world peace." BENNETT AND MERKEL LEAVING CONFERENCE
- Embargoed: 24th October 2021 11:54
- Keywords: Germany Germany Chanceller Angela Merkel Iran Israel Israeli PM Naftali Bennett Palestinians
- Location: JERUSALEM
- City: JERUSALEM
- Country: Israel
- Topics: Diplomacy/Foreign Policy,Middle East,Government/Politics
- Reuters ID: LVA001EYKS5S7
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: The coming weeks are decisive for the future of the nuclear deal with Iran, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Sunday (October 10), adding that every day that passes without Tehran responding to U.S. overtures will result in Iran enriching more uranium.
Speaking during a visit to Israel, the outgoing chancellor said that Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping also had a responsibility to help to push Iran back to the negotiating table.
"If the JCPOA (nuclear deal) is no longer doing what it's meant to do then that's very difficult, so we are now in very decisive weeks for this deal," Merkel said at a joint news conference with Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett in Jerusalem.
Earlier on Sunday, Merkel pledged that her country would preserve its post-Holocaust commitment to Israel, which hailed her as a "moral compass" for Europeans at times divided over its Middle East conflicts.
Merkel, making her eighth and final visit to Israel as she concludes her 16-year term, met Bennett and was scheduled to tour the Yad Vashem memorial to the six million Jews killed by the Nazis during World World Two.
Germany has been a leading postwar European ally of Israel and Merkel has sought to cultivate security and economic ties, though she has differed with Israel on policies concerning the Palestinians and Iran.
Bennett praised his guest for fulfilling a special role in a relationship that rests on an enormous historical wound.
Bennett, a nationalist atop a cross-partisan coalition, opposes Palestinian statehood, putting him at odds with Western powers such as Germany.
The visit had been planned for late August but Merkel postponed the trip, citing the tense situation in Afghanistan.
Following an inconclusive Sep. 26 election, Germany's Social Democrats are courting smaller parties to form a coalition that would replace a conservative grouping led by Merkel's Christian Democrats. Merkel, 67, plans to step down once a new government is formed.
(Production: Dedi Hayoun, Ilan Rosenberg, Suheir Sheikh, Claudia Doerries) - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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