Benny Gantz
Benny GantzFlash 90

Blue and White's chairman and candidate for Prime Minister, LTG (res.) Benny Gantz, responded on Monday to remarks made by the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Federica Mogherini, regarding the EU's intention to avoid sanctioning Iran for its breach of the 2015 nuclear deal.

"This evening, it is crucial to remind our friends in Europe that Iran is a global issue threatening world peace. Israel cannot afford a nuclear Iran - and likewise, neither can you," said Gantz.

Mogherini, speaking to reporters earlier on Monday, said that none of the powers that signed the nuclear agreement except the United States sees Iran's conduct, including increasing its uranium enrichment, as too significant a breach of the deal.

“When it comes to the dispute resolution mechanism, Article 36 of the Agreement - it is the mechanism that is foreseen in the Agreement, in case of significant non-compliance. For the time being, none of the parties to the Agreement have signaled their intention to invoke this article, which means that none of them is – for the moment, for the time being, with the data we had in particular from the IAEA [International Atomic Energy Agency] – considering the non-compliance a ‘significant’ non-compliance. We have also noticed that all the steps that have been taken by Iran are technically reversible,” she said.

“We regret those steps and we invite Iran to reverse them and go back to full compliance. I want to be clear on that: we want to see Iran go back to full compliance as it has been in these years,” added Mogherini.

She also argued that “the reality is that the deal has prevented Iran developing a nuclear weapon. It has been effective and I think that everybody recognizes that there is today no alternative to that deal. It is extremely important to keep it in place at full.”

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu lambasted the EU’s response to Iran's violations of the agreement.

"The European Union's response to Iranian violations reminds me of the European appeasement of the 1930s. Even then, some buried their heads in the sand and did not see the danger approaching. There are probably some in Europe who will not wake up until Iranian missiles fall on European soil. Then it probably will be too late. In any case, we will do everything to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons," he said.

Iran has warned that it would begin violating parts of the 2015 nuclear deal in response to US sanctions.

Two weeks ago, Iran announced that it had exceeded the amount of enriched uranium permitted under the deal. Several days later, Iran followed up by saying it had begun to enrich uranium to 5% purity instead of the 3.67% limit imposed under the JCPOA.

On Monday, Iran warned the EU that it is prepared to end all of its commitments under the 2015 nuclear, and restore its nuclear program to the status quo ante, under which Tehran placed no limits on any areas of nuclear development.