Iran nuclear deal dangerous for world, India knows our concerns: Israel envoy Daniel Carmon

NEW DELHI: Describing the Iran deal as dangerous for the world, Israel envoy to India Daniel Carmon said on Wednesday that India was aware of Israel's concerns over the agreement and that he was sure Israel's strong partnership with India was going to continue.

Ambassador Carmon told TOI how for many years India and Israel have been sharing values, challenges and interests, including in the global war against terror.

Carmon was replying to a query from TOI seeking his reaction to the landmark agreement, which Iran signed with the US and other world powers to end its controversial nuclear programme, and if he saw it as impacting Israel's growing ties with India in the near, or even distant, future.

"Our Indian friends are aware of Israel's and its neighbours' grave concerns about the deal," said Carmon.

Sunni power Saudi Arabia, another important partner for India in the region, too has been particularly opposed to the agreement.

"Throughout the years, India and Israel have developed a strong partnership for the benefit of both countries and I'm sure it will continue," Carmon added.

New Delhi has welcomed the Iran agreement as it is expected to help India in its outreach to central Asia by improving connectivity and in maintaining peace and stability in Afghanistan, apart from improving its energy security. The deal though will also pose the Narendra Modi-led government fresh political challenges at a time it is seen as leaning increasingly towards Israel in its West Asia policy.

Carmon said the deal was bad and dangerous for the region and the world as it did not block Iran's path to a nuclear bomb but merely placed partial constraints for a limited number of years.

"Even under IAEA's safeguards, Iran will be able to continue deceiving, evading and concealing its nuclear programme, as it has done for the past decade," he said.

"Pre-coordinated inspections on Iran's nuclear sites are by no means a genuine verification. The unfreezing of hundreds of billions of dollars and lifting up the sanctions will enable a terror-supporting regime to continue the efforts to destabilise West Asia," he added.

Modi will sooner rather than later become the first Indian Prime Minister to visit Israel but with Iran no longer an international pariah, he will have quite a task walking the Israel-Iran tightrope.

In an acknowledgement perhaps of the significance of the deal which was then still being negotiated, Modi last week told Iran President Hassan Rouhani he was looking forward to visiting Iran. This was Modi's first bilateral meeting with Rouhani which took place on the sidelines of the SCO and BRICS summits. The meeting was described by the Indian foreign ministry as an advancement in a significant relationship.

While India recently abstained from a UNHRC resolution which referred Israel to International Criminal Court for alleged war crimes, it joined hands with other BRICS nations in Russia last week in opposing the "continuous Israeli settlement activities in the Occupied Territories, which violate international law and seriously undermine peace efforts and threaten the concept of the two-state solution".