Original JCPOA financially beneficial for Iran, Russia: Netanyahu

• 

The original Iran nuclear deal, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, if it were to be signed unchanged, would financially benefit both Russia and Iran, said former Israeli occupation Prime Minister and opposition leader Benjamin Netanyahu.

"I believe that we should place heavy sanctions on Iran, and those who advocate lifting the sanctions, which is what this nuclear deal would do if it ever gets signed, would bring hundreds of billions of dollars not only to Iran but to Russia's coffers as well," the Likud Party leader told Fox News Digital in an interview published on Friday.

Over the past year and a half, efforts have been mobilized to revive the JCPOA deal after then-President Donald Trump, with encouragement from Netanyahu, had America withdraw from it in 2018 - stating that the agreement was "a horrible one-sided deal that should have never, ever been made," claiming that "it didn't bring calm, it didn't bring peace, and it never will."

The original JCPOA was signed in 2015 by China, France, Germany, Iran, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the United States, as well as the European Union.

The partnership between Russia and Iran is "horrible", the former Israeli PM said amid accusations that Tehran has been supplying Moscow with Shahed-136 UAVs. Accusations have also resurfaced about Iran's Islamic Revolution Guard Corps (IRGC) going to train Russian troops in light of the Ukraine war.

Despite Israeli and Ukrainian claims about alleged Iranian drones being used in the war in Ukaine, Tehran has repeatedly denied such accusations.

Iranian Foreign Minister Amir-Abdollahian had affirmed in an interview with La Repubblica newspaper that Iran would continue to avoid any steps that could prolong the war in Ukraine and did not confirm the sale of military equipment, including drones, to Russia.

Reportedly, Russia is chiefly using the Shahed-136/Geran-2 type kamikaze drone against Ukraine, with many reports surfacing about the matter in recent days. 

The Russian armed forces have been conducting a vicious campaign over the past few weeks, which has seen Moscow shelling Ukraine and carrying out drone strikes, causing air raid sirens to blare throughout the country, and leading to a highly tense atmosphere.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky went as far as claiming that Russia was deploying almost 2,500 attack drones purchased from Iran.

France, Germany, and the United Kingdom wrote to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, requesting that the UN look into Russia's alleged use of Iranian military drones in Ukraine.

Read next: E3 over Iranian drones: Sanctions first, proof later

According to the letter, there is "substantial" open-source evidence, including photographs and videos, of Russia's use of Iranian military drones in Ukraine.

This comes two days after the European Union imposed sanctions on three Iranian individuals and one entity over claims of developing and delivering Iranian drones to Russia to use against Ukraine, albeit without providing proof to substantiate the claims.

The EU added to its sanctions "blacklist" Iranian drone maker Shahed Aviation Industries, the current chief of staff of the Iranian armed forces Major General Mohammed Hossein Bagheri, logistics officer General Sayed Hojatollah Qureishi, and the commander of the IRGC's drone program Brigadier General Saeed Aghajani.