Ex-Mossad chief: Trump may exit Iran deal, but we’ll still need a new one

“So what is going to be next?” after Trump exits the deal, he asked. “We should have another deal at the end of the day.”

By YONAH JEREMY BOB
Updated: MAY 9, 2018 03:09
Mossad chief Tamir Pardo (photo credit: REUTERS)
Mossad chief Tamir Pardo
(photo credit: REUTERS)
Expecting that US President Donald Trump would exit the Iran nuclear deal on Tuesday, former Mossad director Tamir Pardo earlier in the day wondered what the point was, since eventually there would need to be a new agreement with Tehran.
Pardo, speaking at the IDC Herzliya Conference, said that Iran “is fully complying with the deal.”
“So what is going to be next?” after the US exits the accord, he asked. “We should have another deal at the end of the day.”
The Jerusalem Post has learned that while Pardo views the nuclear deal as having many problematic holes, he believes staying in it while Iran is complying is better than exiting it this early – a position similar to the IDF’s.
Next, the former Mossad chief attacked the argument made by Trump and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that the current agreement is problematic because Iran lied when it said it was not trying to develop nuclear weapons.
“So Iran lied,” he said underwhelmed and dismissively, while adding that all world powers lied when they went after nuclear weapons.
“Our assumption should be they will lie – so we will need to monitor them again. Unless one day, we understand they realize it is a waste of time. I think they will reach that point,” he said.
Citing a benefit of the accord, he said that “after the nuclear deal, Iran started fighting ISIS” side by side with the West and made an important contribution in that regard.
After his statement about all world powers lying about seeking nuclear weapons, Pardo was also asked whether Israel had lied about seeking nuclear weapons, causing him to stop in his tracks with a big smile on his face.
Throwing his arms up in the air, he responded majestically, “I am Mossad,” implying he could not discuss the issue and then adding sarcastically that he was “not in the loop” about questions relating to Israel’s alleged nuclear weapons program.
Moving to the cyber arena, Pardo that said a cyberattack “could turn five nuclear power plants into a group of Chernobyls.”
He said that “we need an IAEA on cyber. That is the only solution if you want to fight it.”
Pardo was head of the Mossad from 2011 to 2016.


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