Netanyahu frets over Iran nuclear deal in Geneva

Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has utterly rejected the emerging agreement in the course of nuclear talks between Iran and six major world powers as a “bad deal.”

“I understand the Iranians are walking around very satisfied in Geneva as well they should because they got everything and paid nothing,” Netanyahu told reporters in Tel Aviv on Friday before meeting US Secretary of State John Kerry.

“They wanted relief of sanctions after years of grueling sanctions, they got that. They paid nothing because they are not reducing in any way their nuclear enrichment capability. So Iran got the deal of the century and the international community got a bad deal,” Netanyahu said.

“This is a very bad deal and Israel utterly rejects it. Israel is not obliged by this agreement,” he added.

Kerry is scheduled to travel to Geneva to take part at the nuclear talks after signs that Iran and the six world powers are likely to achieve an agreement that would involve a partial sanction removal in return for Iran’s confidence-building measures over its nuclear energy program.

French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius is also set to travel to Geneva to attend the ongoing nuclear talks after Kerry made the last-minute decision to join the negotiations.

News about Kerry’s travel plan came a few hours after Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said on Thursday that it is “possible” for Tehran and the six world powers to reach a deal over Iran’s nuclear issue during the current talks, which began on Thursday.

“If all parties make efforts, we could reach an agreement in the negotiations in Geneva,” the top Iranian diplomat told reporters in the Swiss city, which is hosting the two-day talks between Iran and the five permanent members of the UN Security Council – Russia, China, the US, Britain, France – plus Germany.

Zarif further expressed hope that Tehran’s negotiating partner will enter the negotiations with “seriousness,” saying, “We expect serious negotiations and [believe that] it is possible to reach a deal.”

The Iranian minister canceled his planned trip to Rome, Italy, to stay in Geneva.

Ahead of the first session of nuclear talks, Zarif held a breakfast meeting with Ashton, who represents the six countries in the nuclear negotiations with Tehran.

Ashton’s spokesman, Michael Mann, described the Thursday morning meeting as a “good opening session.”