Satellite image shows a nuclear facility in Iran.
(photo credit: REUTERS)
Even if world powers and Iran had not agreed to the recent nuclear deal aimed at preventing Tehran from obtaining atomic weapons capabilities in exchange for the lifting of economic sanctions, the Islamic Republic would still imperil Israel's security, Mossad chief Yossi Cohen said Tuesday morning.
"As long as the current regime exists, with the nuclear agreement or without it, Iran will continue to serve as the main threat to Israel's security," he said in an address at the Meir Dagan Memorial Conference on Security and Strategy at Netanya College.
The head of Israel's national intelligence agency asserted that while Iran's aspirations of bolstering its regional power and influence "remain the same, its methods of operation are changing."
Cohen therefore indicated that Israel should seek "opportunities for cooperation and, above all, for peace," with moderate Arab states in the Middle East.
"The defense establishment should focus on enemies in the region, study them, get to know them in depth, compel them when it is needed, and it will be required," he added.
Netanyahu: Iran is responsible for more than 80% of Israel's security problems (credit: GPO)