The Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action concluded between Iran, the United States, Russia, China, France, United Kingdom, Germany and the European Union was finally concluded after 22 years of negotiations. The full text is attached. In exchange for not pursuing the production of nuclear weapons, the six major powers and the EU will gradually lift the economic sanction on Iran. According to the signatories the deal is a major diplomatic breakthrough. According to current Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu it is "a bad mistake of historic proportions." According to the signatories it reduces the chances of war. Netanyahu's rejection of the deal is based on two arguments:
(1) Lifting the sanctions enables Iran to flow billions of dollars into its terrorism and war machine, thus increasing the dangers to Israel's security.
(2) Israel's security depends on its monopoly as a nuclear weapon state in the Middle East; the deal shall not prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons.
Both arguments are open to discussion. Keeping a country like Iran permanently subject to economic sanctions is neither wise nor justifiable. The Non Proliferation regime should have taught us and Israel, that nuclear weapons proliferation can not be stopped as long as certain countries insist on keeping their own arsenals. As long as Israel insists on maintaining its nuclear arsenal, proliferation will continue to be a major threat to the Middle East. I am afraid that not the deal but Netanyahu's reaction is a mistake of historic proportions.