German Chancellor Olaf Scholz visited Israel on Wednesday, amid the Russia-Ukraine crisis and Vienna talks, aimed at forging a new Iranian nuclear deal, AFP reported.
This was Scholz’s first visit since taking office last December and comes as a new Iran nuclear deal is supposedly being forged in the Austrian capital.
#UPDATE German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said Wednesday that a new Iran nuclear agreement "cannot be postponed any longer", speaking during a visit to Israel which staunchly opposes efforts to forge a deal pic.twitter.com/VoxUWmx24f
— AFP News Agency (@AFP) March 2, 2022
In a joint press conference held in Jerusalem, Scholz said that a new nuclear deal with Iran “cannot be postponed any longer”, The Israeli newspaper The Times of Israel reported.
“Now is the time to make a decision. This must not be postponed any longer and cannot be postponed any longer,” Scholz added.
On his part, Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett strongly criticized the deal, slamming it as “nonacceptable”, according to The Times of Israel.
“We also have a responsibility to make sure that Iran does not have nuclear weapons, and that there will be no possibility of acquiring nuclear weapons — not on our watch or ever,” Bennett was reported as saying by The Times of Israel.
“We will not intervene militarily. That would be wrong in this situation," the German Chancellor said during a visit to Israel.
Olaf Scholz stressed that Germany would continue to support Ukraine in other ways. pic.twitter.com/mEUf4zNNw7
— DW Politics (@dw_politics) March 2, 2022
The two leaders also discussed the developments of the Ukraine-Russia crisis. Following the beginning of Russia’s military operation in Ukraine, Germany has reversed a ban on sending weapons to a war zone and canceled the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline project between Russia and Germany.
Bennett said that “Israel stands with the people of Ukraine”.
(The Palestine Chronicle)
