Nuclear flaw Tel Aviv faces shadow war if Iran deal is revived

The US decision to withdraw from the Iran nuclear deal was an immense personal achievement for former Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu. In a leaked video, he boasted that he had convinced Donald Trump to scrap the 2015 accord between Tehran and world powers.

- Bethan McKernan

But four years on, the Israeli leader has been booted out of office -as has Trump. Both Congress and the Knesset contain more leftwing voices, while in Iran, moderate Hassan Rouhani lost last year's presidential election to hardliner Ebrahim Raisi.

International negotiators in Vienna are edging closer to what amounts to a watered-down version of the original deal. It has now become a source of concern for Israel's political and security establishment.

“The US has tried maximum pressure with sanctions, Israel has assassinated nuclear scientists and carried out attacks designed to limit Iranian military activity around the region. But none of it has worked, said Danny Citrinowicz, who led Israel's military intelligence research between 2013 and 2016. Now we are out of options, and I worry that Israel and Iran are on a collision course in the near future.