EU, Britain shun Israeli allegations against Iran

The European Union (EU) and Britain on Monday said the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) remains the key to ensuring that Iran's nuclear programme is used for peaceful purposes. 

Statements by European leaders came hours after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stepped up pressure on the United States to pull out of a nuclear deal with Iran. 

In a primetime address on Israeli TV, Netanyahu presented what he called evidence of a secret Iranian nuclear weapons programme.

Through a spokesman, Britain said it has never been naive about Iran's nuclear programme, and inspections by the IAEA are vital to ensure it is used for peaceful means. 

"We have never been naive about Iran and its nuclear intentions. That is why the IAEA inspection regime agreed as part of the Iran nuclear deal is one of the most extensive and robust in the history of international nuclear accords," the spokesman said in a statement.

"It remains a vitally important way of independently verifying that Iran is adhering to the deal and that Iran's nuclear programme is exclusively peaceful."

The EU's foreign affairs chief said Netanyahu's latest allegations that Tehran once pursued nuclear weapons do not appear to show Iran is currently violating the nuclear agreement.

Federica Mogherini said in a first reaction that "what I have seen from the first reports is that Prime Minister Netanyahu has not put into question Iran's compliance" of the deal.

She insists it is "first and foremost" the IAEA that must make the assessment whether Iran is abiding by the deal. 

She says that's because "the IAEA is the only impartial, international organization that is in charge of monitoring Iran's nuclear commitments."

The Iranians were more forthright in ridiculing Netanyahu's allegations. 

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif dismissed Israeli allegations as nothing new. 

In a tweet, Zarif said that US President Donald Trump "is jumping on a rehash of old allegations already dealt with by the IAEA to 'nix' the (nuclear) deal."

"How convenient. Coordinated timing of alleged intelligence revelations by the boy who cries wolf just days before May 12," he said, referring to Netanyahu and Trump's deadline to decide whether or not to walk away from the nuclear agreement.

Netanyahu allowed to declare war 

Israel’s parliament, or Knesset, voted on Monday in favor of a bill that would allow the country’s prime minister to declare war in ‘extreme situations’, the Haaretz daily reported.

The prime minister will only need the defense minister's approval, it said.

The report did not say how many lawmakers voted in favor of the bill.

Netanyahu made the request earlier in the day. 

The joint committee of the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee and the Constitution, Law and Justice Committee rejected his request, but it was later voted for by the Knesset plenum.

Before the Knesset vote, Netanyahu claimed that Israel’s intelligence service had obtained secret information from an Iranian nuclear weapons program.

In a statement, Netanyahu claimed Israeli intelligence services had obtained 55,000 pages of Iranian documents revealing how Tehran allegedly lied to the world after signing a deal to curb its nuclear programme.

"Iran lied about never having a nuclear weapons programme; 100,000 secret files proved that they lied," he said.

His remarks followed a weekend meeting between Netanyahu and newly sworn-in US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.

President Trump is expected to announce his decision on May 12 on whether the US will pull out of the deal.