Israeli Minister: Nuclear Iran Threatens the World

JERUSALEM, Israel -- With the November 24 deadline for the U.S. and five other nations to reach an agreement with Iran over its nuclear program days away, Israeli officials are concerned the current deal sets the stage for Iran to become a nuclear power.

Israeli Minister of Intelligence and Strategic Affairs Yuval Steinitz told reporters in Jerusalem Iran is not being flexible in the negotiations.

"On the core issue -- on the uranium enrichment capability -- they made almost no concessions," Steinitz said. He warned, "Do not sign a bad deal with Iran. Don't sign a bad deal with Iran that enables Iran to remain a threshold nuclear state."

Steinitz says the current agreement with Iran could turn out the same way as the agreement with North Korea did. For years, North Korea signed agreements with the international community agreeing to curb its nuclear program. But the agreements didn't stop it from developing a nuclear weapons.

Israel is concerned Iran is trying to insert "loopholes" in the agreement.

"If these loopholes are not totally closed, it enables the Iranians to bypass the agreement and to make the agreement meaningless in the future -- that Iran will try to bypass all the restrictions by cooperating with North Korea and other rogue regimes in the future," he said.

Steinitz also warned allowing Iran to continue enriching uranium will lead to a nuclear arms race in the Middle East.

The stakes in these talks, he says, are the future of the world.

"This is going to change the world forever," Steinitz warned. "This going to create a new, dangerous world for decades. This is really about the future of the world, not just about the future of Israel or the Middle East or the security of Europe and the United States. This is about the future of the world."   

Steinitz also said Iran's ambitious missile program put Europe and the West in range.

"They invest vast resources, longer-range missiles; Israel is totally covered by the Shahab 3. Now they are investing a lot of money in missiles that can reach London and Paris and later intercontinental ballistic missiles that could reach the United States," he said. "You should remind people it's not about Israel and the Middle East. They are already building missiles -- ballistic missiles -- that can reach Europe and America."