Hammond blasts Israel over Iran: ‘No deal would have been enough for Bibi’

16 July 2015, 10:42 am

From left to right: European Union High Representative Federica Mogherini, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, Head of the Iranian Atomic Energy Organization Ali Akbar Salehi, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond and US Secretary of State John Kerry pose for a group picture at the United Nations building in Vienna, Austria, Tuesday, July 14, 2015. . (Joe Klamar/Pool Photo via AP)

From left to right: Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, Head of the Iranian Atomic Energy Organisation Ali Akbar Salehi, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond and US Secretary of State John Kerry in Vienna on Tuesday

British Foreign Secretary Phillip Hammond has blasted Israel for being against any deal with Iran, in the wake the nuclear deal struck on Tuesday.

Addressing parliament today, he answered a question about Israeli concerns, saying: “The question you have to ask yourself is what kind of a deal would have been welcomed in Tel Aviv. The answer of course is that Israel doesn’t want any deal with Iran.”

He added that “no agreement with Iran would have been enough for Netanyahu… Israel wants a permanent state of stand-off and I don’t believe that’s in the interests of the region. I don’t believe it’s in our interest.”

His comments were in-line with other world leaders, with German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier saying: “Israel should also take a closer look at it and not criticise it in a very coarse way.”

During and after last year’s war in Gaza, Hammond repeatedly refused to be drawn on whether the IDF response was proportionate, but warned that Israel was undermining its support in the West, without being specific.