Mossad Chief: ‘Inevitable’ Nuke Deal a ‘Strategic Disaster Based on Lies’

The head of Israel’s Mossad spy agency has called the nascent nuclear deal with Iran a “strategic disaster” that is “based on lies.”

“The agreement is a bad deal that gives Iran a license to manufacture a bomb,” David Barnea was quoted as saying during internal security meetings in Hebrew-language media reports.

Echoing earlier comments made Prime Minister Yair Lapid, Barnea said Israel has no obligation to be party to the agreement.

“The Mossad is committed to preventing Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons. The agreement does not apply to Israel, nor does the freedom of action to continue operating,” he said.

“If we don’t take action, Israel will be in danger,” he said, adding that the Mossad knows how to deal with the threat posed by Iran.

The Israeli spymaster held an intelligence briefing with Lapid in Tel Aviv over the weekend.

“The Mossad director reviewed the intelligence situation and the dangers involved in a return to the nuclear agreement,” Lapid’s office said in a statement.

In comments carried by Hebrew-language media Thursday evening, the spymaster said the deal is “very bad for Israel” and the US “is rushing into an accord that is ultimately based on lies,” citing Iran’s ongoing claim that its nuclear activities are peaceful in nature.

Barnea claimed the newest draft of the nuclear agreement, which he said would be “inevitably” signed, is worse than its 2015 predecessor.

“We are copy-pasting the 2015 agreement, and the only thing that remains the same since then is the text of the agreement,” Barnea said. “Everything else has changed. The world has changed. The Iranians have developed their own advanced centrifuges and the threats and technologies have changed.”

“On the one hand, they are sitting in Vienna and nearing an agreement – and on the other hand, Iran is acting and sending terrorist arms against the Americans and is deceiving the world.”

He also noted that once the accord was signed, hundreds of billions of dollars would flow into Iran’s coffers and be funneled toward its terrorist proxies in the region, from the Lebanon-based Hezbollah to Gaza-based terror groups, Palestinian Islamic Jihad and Hamas, as well as the Houthis in Yemen.

Barnea will travel to Washington next week in a bid to stop the deal from going ahead in its current form. He will be the third high-level Israeli official to visit the U.S. in recent days to discuss the deal, after Defense Minister Benny Gantz and national security adviser Eyal Hulata.

Lapid on Sunday said that both the Israeli military and the Mossad are on standby and “ready for any scenario.”

“We will be prepared to act militarily to preserve Israel’s security. The Americans understand this, the world understands this, and Israeli society should also know it,” Lapid said.