Israel’s ambassador to Washington, Ron Dermer, derided an Iran nuclear deal that would rely on inspections.

“The Iranian regime knows that inspectors will not stop them,” Dermer said June 8 in an address to the annual State of Israel Bonds banquet in Washington.

“They know if they keep their nuclear weapons-making capability intact, eventually they will develop the bomb. That is why the only thing that should be acceptable to the international community is one in which that capability is fully dismantled.”

Obama administration officials have said repeatedly that a limited uranium enrichment capability policed by a tough inspection regime is the likely outcome of nuclear talks now underway.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has rejected any outcome that allows continued enrichment, something Dermer reiterated in his speech. Netanyahu also has called for increased sanctions on Iran.

Dermer’s remarks came as William Burns, the deputy secretary of state, and Wendy Sherman, the undersecretary of state leading the U.S. side in the talks, met with their Iranian counterparts in Vienna.

Such a direct U.S.-Iran meeting, without representatives of the other major powers in the talks, is rare and reports have suggested that the sides are meeting because the July 20 deadline for a deal is looming. It is not clear if the sides are close to a deal or wish to exercise an option to extend talks for six months. — jta