RNA - The revelation came in Powell’s email to business partner and democratic donor Jeffrey Leeds, where he discussed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s warnings about a nuclear deal with Iran.
The historic deal, which puts limitations on Iran’s peaceful nuclear program in exchange for removing nuclear-related bans against the Islamic Republic, was finalized between Tehran and the P5+1 group of nations—the US, Britain, France, Russia, China and Germany-- earlier this year.
“Negotiators can’t get what he wants,” Powell wrote of the marathon talks that preceded the final deal, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).
Powell dismissed Netanyahu’s concern that Iran was only a year away from making a nuclear bomb, implying that the large nuclear arsenal Washington and Tel Aviv had amassed over the years would serve as a deterrent to that.
“Bibi likes to say 'a year away,' as do our intel guys. They say it every year. [It] ain’t that easy to do,” the four-star general said.
“Israel has 200 [nuclear weapons], all targeted on Tehran, and we have thousands,” he said.
The former secretary of state then hailed the JCPOA, saying it benefited both Iran and the US-led alliance.
“The Iran deal is a good one for the country and our alliances… I have studied it pretty thoroughly,” Powell wrote in the email.
Tehran has made it clear that weapons of mass destruction have no place in its defense doctrine.
On February 22, 2012, Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei said that Iran considers the pursuit and possession of nuclear weapons “a grave sin” from every logical, religious and theoretical standpoint.
Powell’s hacked emails, published by the hacking group DCLeaks, provide good insight on the Israeli regime’s nuclear arsenal, which has been kept a secret.
With an estimated 200 to 400 nuclear warheads in its arsenal, the regime has refused to allow inspections of its military nuclear facilities or sign the international nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).
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