Netanyahu sets red lines for U.S.-Iran nuclear deal as talks shift to Switzerland; exiled shah’s son rallies supporters in Munich
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said any U.S.-Iran nuclear agreement must require the removal of all enriched uranium from Iran and address Tehran’s ability to enrich more, setting out hard-line conditions as a new round of talks moves to Switzerland this week.
- Advertisement -
Speaking in Jerusalem to leaders of major American Jewish organizations, Netanyahu said a viable deal must also tackle Iran’s ballistic missiles and impose “real” and sustained inspections across the program. “The first is that all enriched material has to leave Iran,” he said, adding: “There has to be real inspection, substantive inspections, no lead-time inspections, but effective inspections for all of the above. These are the elements that we believe are important for the achievement of the deal.” He said he laid out the same demands in a recent conversation with U.S. President Donald Trump.
His remarks came as Iran’s foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, headed to Switzerland for a second round of renewed U.S.-Iran talks later this week. A Swiss foreign ministry spokesman said Oman would host talks in Geneva next week, without providing further details.
Considerable uncertainty surrounds the fate of Iran’s stockpile of more than 400 kilograms of 60% enriched uranium, last seen by nuclear watchdog inspectors in June before Israeli and U.S. strikes against Iranian nuclear sites. Tehran and Washington restarted negotiations in Muscat on Feb. 6, months after a previous round collapsed when Israel launched an unprecedented bombing campaign against Iran last June that sparked a 12-day war.
The latest diplomacy unfolds under heightened pressure. The United States has threatened Iran with military action and deployed an aircraft carrier group to the region following a deadly crackdown on anti-government protests last month. Representatives of Iran and the United States, which have had no diplomatic relations since shortly after the 1979 revolution, also held talks last week in Oman.
Parallel to the nuclear track, Iran’s exiled crown prince, Reza Pahlavi, told a massive rally in Munich that he is ready to guide a transition to a “secular democratic future,” appealing to Iranians at home and abroad to keep up protests. Addressing what organizers said was a crowd of around 200,000 supporters, Pahlavi said, “I am here to guarantee a transition to a secular democratic future,” and, “I am committed to be the leader of transition for you so we can one day have the final opportunity to decide the fate of our country through a democratic, transparent process to the ballot box.”
Demonstrators waved green-white-and-red flags bearing the lion-and-sun emblem of the toppled monarchy and chanted “Javid shah” — long live the shah. “The Iranian regime is a dead regime,” said a 62-year-old protester, who gave his name only as Said. “It must be game over.”
Echoes of the movement rippled across the diaspora, with thousands marching from downtown Los Angeles to the National Mall in Washington in solidarity with anti-government protesters in Iran. In Toronto, crowds shouted “Trump act now!” When Iran’s crackdown began, Trump said the United States was “locked and loaded” to help demonstrators, but has more recently focused his military threats on Iran’s nuclear program, which U.S. forces struck last June during Israel’s 12-day war with Iran.
Inside Iran, videos verified this week showed people chanting anti-government slogans despite the continuing clampdown, even as the clerical leadership marked the anniversary of the Islamic Revolution. The U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency said at least 7,010 people, mostly protesters, have been killed in the crackdown, with more than 53,845 arrested; the group and others warned the true toll is likely far higher.
Pahlavi has urged Iranians to continue demonstrating and to chant from homes and rooftops to coincide with protests in Germany and elsewhere. Still, the opposition remains divided. Pahlavi, 65, has faced criticism for his support for Israel — including a highly publicized 2023 visit that fractured attempts to unify opposition camps — and for never distancing himself from his father’s autocratic rule.
As negotiators head to Geneva and political currents swirl on the streets, Netanyahu’s demands signal a hardening perimeter around any prospective deal: removal of enriched uranium, curbs on enrichment, resolution of missile issues and intrusive inspections. Whether Tehran and Washington can find common ground under those terms may determine the next phase of a crisis spanning the negotiating table and the protest square.
By Abdiwahab Ahmed
Axadle Times international–Monitoring.
