Israel is not opposed to diplomacy with Iran but will only accept a resolution if it includes strict guarantees on dismantling Iran’s nuclear and missile capabilities, said Major (Retd) Dan Feferman, Middle East expert and former IDF officer, in an interview with CNBC-TV18. His comments come as European leaders prepare to hold fresh talks with Iran to de-escalate the conflict.Feferman said, “If certain benchmarks are achieved—such as completely taking away Iran’s ability to enrich uranium and stopping the weaponisation programmes… Israel would be very happy.” He added that Iran must also commit to halting ballistic missile production, which Israel sees as a direct threat. “Two missiles this past week landed within a kilometre of my house. One landed on a hospital yesterday. These are meant only to terrorise.”
He defended Israel’s recent military strikes, saying they were triggered only after diplomacy failed to stop Iran’s growing threat. According to Feferman, Iran was dangerously close to having enough enriched material and delivery systems to build a nuclear weapon. “As far as we’re concerned here in Israel, diplomacy would always have been the preferable option, but it was clear to us that Iran was never actually committed to diplomacy.”
Feferman accused Iran of using diplomatic negotiations as a stalling tactic while bypassing international restrictions and steadily moving closer to a weapons programme. Despite this, he said Israel remains open to any agreement—negotiated by the EU, US, or even India—if Iran acts in good faith under pressure.The remarks come at a time when the United States has requested two weeks to decide whether to join Israel’s war against Iran. The conflict, now in its second week, has seen both sides accuse each other of targeting civilian sites. Israel claims to have struck dozens of Iranian military installations and says Iran has retaliated with cluster bombs and missile attacks on civilian and tech infrastructure, including Microsoft’s office in Be’er Sheva.
He defended Israel’s recent military strikes, saying they were triggered only after diplomacy failed to stop Iran’s growing threat. According to Feferman, Iran was dangerously close to having enough enriched material and delivery systems to build a nuclear weapon. “As far as we’re concerned here in Israel, diplomacy would always have been the preferable option, but it was clear to us that Iran was never actually committed to diplomacy.”
Feferman accused Iran of using diplomatic negotiations as a stalling tactic while bypassing international restrictions and steadily moving closer to a weapons programme. Despite this, he said Israel remains open to any agreement—negotiated by the EU, US, or even India—if Iran acts in good faith under pressure.The remarks come at a time when the United States has requested two weeks to decide whether to join Israel’s war against Iran. The conflict, now in its second week, has seen both sides accuse each other of targeting civilian sites. Israel claims to have struck dozens of Iranian military installations and says Iran has retaliated with cluster bombs and missile attacks on civilian and tech infrastructure, including Microsoft’s office in Be’er Sheva.
Feferman underlined that war is a last resort and comes at a cost. “The citizens, the country—pay the direct price for it,” he said, stressing that the window for diplomacy is not yet closed if Iran is willing to meet core security demands.
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