Netanyahu Warns Iran Deal Will See Tehran With Nukes in Less Than Year

TEL AVIV (Sputnik) — The nuclear deal currently being negotiated by the P5+1 group and Iran will allow Tehran to develop a nuclear weapon in less than a year, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Tuesday.

“The time that Iran needs to get fissile materials for a nuclear bomb will be not years as it was said in the very beginning. According to our assessment, it will be reduced to less than a year and probably will be a lot sooner,” Netanyahu said at the swearing-in of the 20th Knesset.

The Israeli prime minister has long been a vocal critic of the ongoing efforts by international mediators to reach a nuclear deal with Iran saying that the emerging agreement would not have the desired effect and enable Iran to produce a nuclear bomb.

For over ten years, the P5+1 countries, namely Russia, the United States, China, France, the United Kingdom and Germany have been trying to convince Iran to halt its uranium enrichment program and decrease the number of its centrifuges, fearing Tehran is developing nuclear weapons under the guise of a civilian program.

The international mediators have been in talks with Iran since November 2013 trying to reach a deal that would ensure the peaceful nature of its nuclear program.

The deadline for reaching a final agreement has been postponed several times, with the most recent one set for July 1, 2015.