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Foreign Secretary statement on Prime Minister Netanyahu鈥檚 Iran speech

Boris Johnson responded to Prime Minister's Netanyahu's speech delivered on 30 April 2018.

From:
Foreign & Commonwealth Office and The Rt Hon Boris Johnson
Published
1 May 2018
This was published under the 2016 to 2019 May Conservative government

Foreign Secretary, Boris Johnson, said:

The Israeli Prime Minister鈥檚 presentation on Iran鈥檚 past research into nuclear weapons technology underlines the importance of keeping the Iran nuclear deal鈥檚 constraints on Tehran鈥檚 nuclear ambitions.

The Iran nuclear deal is not based on trust about Iran鈥檚 intentions; rather it is based on tough verification, including measures that allow inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency unprecedented access to Iran鈥檚 nuclear programme.

The fact that Iran conducted sensitive research in secret until 2003 shows why we need the intrusive inspections allowed by the Iran nuclear deal today. The verification provisions in the Iran nuclear deal would make it harder for Iran to restart any such research. That is another good reason for keeping the deal while building on it in order to take account of the legitimate concerns of the US and our other allies.

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Published 1 May 2018