Israeli leader REJECTS Angela Merkel’s plea to reconsider Iran nuclear deal
ANGELA Merkel plea to Israel's Benjamin Netanyahu to reconsider his country's position on the Iran nuclear deal was rebuffed by the Israeli Prime Minister today after the two leaders met to discuss the situation in the Middle East.
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The German Chancellor met Mr Netanyahu on Monday to discuss, among other issues, the importance of the Iran nuclear deal as she tried to convince the Israeli leader to reconsider his opposition to it.
The two world leaders agreed Iran exercised a “worrying” influence over a huge part of the Middle East.
But the outcome of the meeting did not go as the German Chancellor had hoped, as Ms Merkel not only admitted the two countries have a different view on the deal.
However, Ms Merkel vowed to help Israel in addressing the threat posed by Iran.
At a press conference following their talk, Ms Merkel said: “Our meeting focused on an international issue, the Iran agreement.
We support Israel's right to security and have said this to Iran at all times
“But we also looked closer at the influence of Iran in Syria and the whole region.
“Although we have a different opinion on the usefulness of the deal and its effectiveness, as Germany didn’t cancel the agreement as other European country didn’t, we were at one in saying that this issue of regional influence on the region is worrying, particularly for the security of Israel.”
Ms Merkel offered another way of thwarting Iran's nuclear and regional ambitions.
She said: “This is why we feel we should undertake every diplomatic effort we can in order to address Iran’s ballistic missile programme but also its presence in Yemen and Syria.
"We support Israel's right to security and have said this to Iran at all times.
”We have the same goal that Iran must never get a nuclear weapon and the difference between us is how to do that."
The German Chancellor also said her country “supports Israel in its issue to evaluate the material” that would prove Iran was developing a nuclear weapon before entering the deal in 2015.
She added: “We believe that this is very important for the transparency of the process.”
Mr Netanyahu presented the documentation in a televised announcement in May, days before US President Donald Trump dropped out of the deal.
Trump demands changes to 'disastrous' Iran nuclear deal
The JCPOA agreement, which stands for Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action and is more commonly known as Iran nuclear deal, was signed by Iran, United States, the United Kingdom, France, Russia, China and Germany in 2015.
The agreement saw these countries ditching hefty sanctions against Iran, which would in turn not develop nuclear weapons.
But Mr Trump declared on May 8 the US was leaving the “horrible” agreement stipulated by Barack Obama, sparking Mr Netanyahu’s hope, who has always been against the contract, other countries would follow.
The Israeli Prime Minister is currently on a tour to persuade European leaders to tear up the deal.