WASHINGTON – Israel’s battle-ready nuclear weapons arsenal, not Iran’salleged development program are the biggest threat in the Middle East,Veteran UN human rights adviser, author and Middle East analyst James A.Paul told Sputnik.

On Wednesday, US Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Bob Corkersaid that President Donald Trump will almost certainly pull the UnitedStates out of the 2015 international nuclear agreement with Iran this monthif no changes are made to the agreement.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a televised address on Mondaysaid Tel Aviv had proof Iran maintained a nuclear weapons programdespite signing the nuclear agreement, which is officially known as theJoint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).

However, Paul said Netanyahu’s outrage over Iran was ironic and misplaced.

“To any well-informed observer, it is ironic that Israel, whose own secretnuclear arms program is by far the most dangerous in the region, would becomplaining about the possibility of nuclear weapons in a neighboringstate,” he said.

Unlike Iran, Israel had a well-documented large arsenal of nuclear weaponsthat were ready for use, Paul pointed out.

“Israel actually has real, battle-ready nuclear weapons and has possessedthem for some time. Has Washington complained or threatened to take action?Of course not!” he said.

Trump and Netanyahu’s arguments defied logic and common sense, Paul stated.

“We live in an Alice-in-Wonderland world where the nuclear armsof unfriendly states are considered a threat to world peace and nucleararms of allies are seen as sensible and defensive,” he said.

Netanyahu’s presentation on Monday appeared designed to give politicalsupport to Trump if he pulled the United States out of the JCPOA, Paulcommented.

“I find it difficult to predict what impact Prime Minister Netanyahu’spress conference will have on the future of the Iran nuclear deal, thoughhis dramatic presentation probably will provide a certain amount of coverfor President Trump’s expected decision to pull out of the deal,” he said.

Netanyahu’s remarks were likely to create doubt in the public mindabout the reliability of the deal as a peacemaking instrument, Paulobserved.

“Those in the know are well-aware that Netanyahu has long been beating thedrum on Iranian nuclear weapons and so his claims are not anything new andcertainly not surprising. Further, the evidence he has presented isabout programs in the past, well before the nuclear deal was agreed,” Paulsaid.

Netanyahu’s arguments and alleged documentation, according to many expertsdid not provide any new or game-changing evidence to the issue of Iran’snuclear program that was resolved in the 2015 agreement, Paul pointed out.

“Nor, it seems, is there any evidence in this huge trove of documentsto suggest that Iran has a nuclear arms program at present,in contravention of the deal,” he said.

Netanyahu had provided no credible new reason for scrapping the 2015agreement, Paul noted.

“In the present case, there is an agreement with Iran in place,painstakingly negotiated, and there remains a very solid internationalbacking for it. In spite of efforts from Washington, the other foreignpowers that signed on are still sticking with the agreement and arguingin its favor,” he said.

The other signatories to the JCPOA had expressed support for theInternational Atomic Energy Authority (IAEA) and not the Israeli secretintelligence services for providing the evidence of compliance, Paul added.

Paul said the inaccurate evidence the United States and the United Kingdomhad claimed about Iraq’s alleged Weapons of Mass Destruction programbefore the 2003 Gulf War provided more reason to be cautious and skepticalabout Netanyahu’s claims on the Iranian nuclear issue now.

“In 2002 and 2003, we were assured by the CIA and MI6 that Iraq had weaponsof mass destruction of all kinds and in great numbers. The US and itsBritish allies fought a war to ‘disarm’ Iraq but found none of the weaponsthey said they would find,” Paul said.

The United States and Israel, backed by Saudi Arabia and other Arabnations, were likely to follow up scrapping the JCPOA by increasing thescale of their unsubstantiated claims against Tehran, Paul warned.

“If Trump leaves the deal, will Washington and Tel Aviv make further claimsof the same type sometime in the near future? Saudi Arabia and its Araballies will be cheering,” he said.

Such allegations could then prepare the ground for a full-scale waragainst Iran, Paul cautioned.

“Might Trump and Netanyahu launch military strikes or even try to invadeIran, on grounds of disarmament? It is a frightening prospect,” he said.

James Paul served as Global Policy Forum Executive Director from itsfoundation in late 1993 through the end of 2012 and was the representativeto the International Federation of Human Rights at the United Nations.

Paul has received the World Hunger Media Award and a “Peacemaker” awardfrom the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation.