JERUSALEM, Israel – The U.S. and Iran reported progress on Iranian nuclear talks in Oman this weekend. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told a conference in Jerusalem that the only deal Israel could live with involves wiping out Tehran’s nuclear infrastructure.
Meanwhile, mysterious explosions killed more than 40 people and wounded more than 700 others at a key Iranian port.
Israel has not commented on the massive explosion and fire at Iran’s largest port, Rajaei, outside Bandar Abbas.
It was reportedly caused by a major ingredient in solid missile fuel shipped from China.
One witness stated, “I heard a huge explosion. It was very loud.”
According to Beni Sabti, an Iran expert at the Institute for National Security Studies, the port was used to launch illegal oil shipments. He said Sunday, “This location and this port were extremely critical to the survival of the Iranian regime.”
Jonathan Conricus with the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies told CBN News that while Iranian lawmakers allege that Israel or other foreigners were behind the attack, it’s not clear that is the case.
“I think it’s an unfolding story where each hour that goes by, we will learn more about illicit trade between China and Iran, about how the Revolutionary Guard in Iran stores weapons and weapons material, and how they are – despite their dire economic situation – trying to build missiles and trying to produce weapons that they aim to use against Israel and the U.S.,” Conricus noted.
The extensive damage is a severe blow to the Iranian regime, which is already suffering extreme economic distress, and a blow to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), which uses the port to send weapons to proxies such as Hezbollah and the Houthis.
Conricus declared, “I think that this is another example of how dangerous the IRGC is – what a liability the Iranian regime is vis-à-vis the Iranian population – and what the danger it poses for Iran.”
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After a third round of talks in Oman, intended to stop Iran from developing nuclear weapons, both the Iranian regime and the Trump administration report real progress.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi announced, “I can say that this round of negotiations was much more serious than previous ones.”
President Trump observed, “We’ve had a lot of talks with them and I think we’re going to have a deal, I’d much rather have a deal than the other alternative.”
Yet, huge issues still divide the negotiators. The Iranians insist they won’t stop enriching uranium. The U.S. and Israel contend that it must stop because the regime is now producing enough enriched uranium to fuel one nuclear bomb every month.
Tehran refuses even to talk about ballistic missiles, the kind that could deliver Iranian nuclear bombs anywhere in the world.
Aragchi said, “Let me state clearly: the topic of the talks is solely the nuclear issue. We are not negotiating on any other topics.”
But Netanyahu, speaking Sunday night to the JNS News International Policy Summit in Jerusalem, countered, “The real deal that works is a deal which removes Iran’s capacity to enrich uranium for nuclear weapons.”
Netanyahu elaborated that any deal would need to address a number of issues. He cautioned, “Once they have the weapons of delivery – ballistic missiles, ICBMs, intercontinental ballistic missiles – they will threaten every city in the United States.”
The prime minister insisted the only deal Israel can accept is one that permanently removes that missile threat. He explained, “The way to prevent it is to dismantle all the infrastructure of Iran’s nuclear program. That is a deal we could live with.”
Without such an agreement, Netanyahu hinted that Israel will take military action against Iran’s nuclear facilities, with or without assistance from the U.S. “One way or another, Iran will not have nuclear weapons,” he declared.
President Trump, referring to such military strikes in an interview with Time Magazine, said, “If we don’t make a deal, I’ll be leading the pack.”
In military action on Sunday, an Israeli airstrike blew up a building in Beirut, Lebanon. A statement from Israeli leadership said the strike wiped out “infrastructure in Beirut where Hezbollah’s precision missiles were stored, which posed a significant threat to the state of Israel.”
The statement continued, “Israel will not allow Hezbollah to strengthen and to create any threat against it – anywhere in Lebanon.”
A source told The Jerusalem Post the attack was coordinated in advance with the U.S.
