Iran "will not have nuclear weapons, not in the coming years, never," Mossad chief David Barnea vowed Thursday.
Speaking alongside Prime Minister Naftali Bennett and President Isaac Herzog at a ceremony to recognize 12 Mossad agents – four field operators, four cyber operatives and four staff – for their excellence, Barnea said Israel will do "whatever it takes" to make sure Iran never develops a nuclear weapon, adding that a bad nuclear deal between powers is "intolerable."
Follow Israel Hayom on Facebook and Twitter
"It's clear that there's no need for uranium enriched to 60% for civilian purposes," Barnea said. "There is no need for three sites with thousands of centrifuges active unless there is the intention to develop nuclear weapons."
Barnea criticized the Iran deal, calling it a "bad agreement," and devalued attempts to reinstate it.
"Iran strives for regional hegemony, operates the same terrorists that we're tackling every day worldwide, and continuously threatens the stability of the Middle East," Barnea stressed.
"Therefore our eyes are wide open, we're ready, and we'll act with our colleagues in the defense establishment to do what is needed to distance the threat from the State of Israel, and thwart it in any way," he added.
An Israeli official said the country assesses that Iran could produce enough 90%-enriched uranium for a single nuclear bomb within a month, and that Israel still considers a military strike against Iran to be a viable option and is preparing for all scenarios.
Bennett, meanwhile, called on the US and other world powers to halt the nuclear talks with Iran taking place in Vienna.
The premier made this plea in a phone conversation with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, according to the Prime Minister's Office, in a c
Referring to Wednesday's International Atomic Energy Agency report that Iran had begun enriching uranium to the level of 20% purity at its Fordo underground facility, Bennett told Blinken that Tehran was engaging in "nuclear blackmail" as a bargaining tactic.
This, he said, must be met with an immediate cessation of negotiations and concrete steps by the powers involved, rather than tolerance and appeasement.
Israeli officials familiar with the details of the phone conversation said Bennett and Blinken spoke as friends but noted that the gap in their respective approaches was significant.
The officials said the Iranians were solely focused on the removal of economic sanctions as a first step, before ever discussing their nuclear program, and had brought 40 economists to the talks in Vienna.
To the chagrin of Israel, however, the Biden administration still appears open to two types of possible deals: a full return to the original 2015 deal tailored to the technical advancements the Iranians have made since then, or a limited deal entailing the cessation of uranium enrichment in exchange for the removal of sanctions.
The assessment among Israel's political echelon is that the current round of talks in Vienna won't produce a finalized agreement and that at least one more round would be necessary. Israeli officials intend to use the period between the rounds to increase pressure on the US to eschew any deal.
As stated, the gaps between Israel and the US were crystallized in Thursday's phone conversation between Blinken and Bennett, who said a partial deal meant the ayatollah regime would receive billions of dollars that it would use to intensify its belligerent activities in the region.
In a rare step, the Biden administration didn't issue a statement about the phone call with the Israeli prime minister.
The State Department later issued a read-out of the conversation saying that "Secretary Blinken and Prime Minister Bennett affirmed the strong US-Israel partnership and discussed regional security issues, including Iran and the ongoing talks in Vienna concerning Iran's nuclear program, as well as the global challenge posed by COVID-19."
Blinken addressed the conversation with Bennett at a press conference in Sweden.
"Let me just say that I had a very good and detailed conversation with Prime Minister Bennett [Thursday]. This is in keeping with the many exchanges that we've had with our Israeli allies on any number of issues, but to include, of course, the issue of Iran's nuclear program.
Subscribe to Israel Hayom's daily newsletter and never miss our top stories!
"And we have exactly the same strategic objectives: We are both determined to ensure that Iran does not acquire a nuclear weapon. And we went over in some detail where we thought things stood based on what we've been hearing in Vienna. We will continue to be in very close contact with Israel, as well as with other concerned countries including in the Gulf, about the status of the talks and our assessment of where this is going or where it's not going."
Asked about Bennett's plea for an immediate halt to the talks, Blinken replied: "As I said, we're going to know very, very quickly, I think in the next day or two, whether Iran is serious or not. We need to test that proposition fully. I think our partners in the talks believe that as well, but as I said, and to be very clear, we will not accept the status quo of Iran building its program on the one hand and dragging its feet in talks on the other. That's not going to last…
"That is also not our view alone. We'll see what happens over the next couple of days but it is up to Iran to demonstrate and to demonstrate quickly that it is serious," he told reporters.
Israel Hayom has learned, meanwhile, that European powers were considering a series of tough punitive steps against Iran if it continues buying time and the Vienna talks fail to progress.
