Pro-Israel Tory MPs echo Jerusalem’s concerns over Iranian nuclear deal

Pro-Israel Conservative MPs have echoed Jerusalem’s concerns about an emerging nuclear deal with Iran, with a former defence secretary joining the criticism.

Over a dozen parliamentarians, many supporters of Conservative Friends of Israel, took part in a Westminster Hall debate about the deal, on which the world powers and Iranian negotiators are finalising details this week.

The Tory MPs warned of the premature lifting of sanctions, insufficient verification mechanisms, and Iran’s retention of a uranium enrichment infrastructure, which is deemed unnecessary for civilian purposes.

They also cautioned against time-limiting the most severe restrictions to a decade, which Benjamin Netanyahu recently called “the blink of an eye in the life of our children”.

Earlier this year, the Israeli prime minister told the U.S. Congress that Israel opposed the deal with Iran, because it “would all but guarantee that Iran gets [nuclear] weapons, lots of them”.

Following the debate, Welsh MP Guto Bebb said: “Iran has not been obligated to make enough concessions to sufficiently reassure the international community that it has no ambitions to develop nuclear weaponry.”