Netanyahu says US deal with Iran must dismantle nuclear infrastructure

Jerusalem: ​Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday he told US President Donald Trump last week that any U.S. deal with Iran must include the dismantling of ⁠Iran's nuclear infrastructure, not just stopping the enrichment process.

Speaking at the annual ⁠Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, ‌Netanyahu also said Israel still needs ​to "complete the job" of destroying all tunnels in Gaza. Israel, he said, has already dismantled 150 km (93 miles) of an estimated 500 km.

A second round of talks between the U.S. and Iran are ​slated for this week. Iran ⁠is pursuing a nuclear agreement with the U.S. that delivers economic benefits for both sides, an Iranian diplomat was reported as saying on Sunday.

Netanyahu said he is sceptical of a ⁠deal but ‌it must include enriched material leaving Iran. "There shall be no enrichment capability - not stopping the enrichment process, but dismantling the ‌equipment and the infrastructure that allows you to enrich in the first place," ⁠he said.

Iran and the U.S. renewed negotiations earlier this month to tackle their decades-long dispute over ‌Tehran's nuclear programme and avert a new military confrontation. ‌The U.S. has dispatched a second aircraft carrier to ‌the region and is preparing for the possibility of a ‌sustained military campaign if the talks do not succeed, U.S. officials have told Reuters.

Netanyahu also said that he aimed to end U.S. military aid to Israel ⁠within the ⁠next 10 years, after the current 10-year deal of receiving $3.8 billion a year - which is largely spent in the United States on equipment - ends in 2028.

Due to a thriving economy, "we can afford to phase out the financial component of the military aid that we're receiving, and I propose a 10-year draw down to ​zero. Now, in the three years that remain in the ​present memorandum of understanding and ​another seven years draw it down to zero," Netanyahu said.

"We want to move with the ​United States from aid to partnership," he said.