Ministry makes animated pitch against Iran nuke deal

YouTube video sent to Jewish leaders warns of dangers posed by potential final agreement that leaves Tehran with nuclear weapons capability

As Iran and six world powers prepare for more talks on a final agreement over the Islamic Republic’s rogue nuclear program, Israel’s Ministry of Diaspora Affairs released an animated video Tuesday exhorting against a bad deal and saying that a nuclear-capable Iran would pose a danger to the world.

The short video, which was uploaded to YouTube and sent to Jewish leaders and groups, shows a cartoon version of Iranian President Hassan Rouhani holding a bowling ball shaped like a bomb as he aims to topple several pins bearing the flags of China, Russia, Britain, France, Germany and the US.

In the slickly produced film, a narrator warns against a deal taking shape that, he says, would allow Iran to retain the ability to produce a nuclear weapon.

“Iran with a nuclear weapon is a global threat and will turn the Middle East into a nuclear nightmare,” the narrator says in English.

The film concludes with a huffing and tired Rouhani attempting to push a cart with the nuclear symbol inscribed upon it up a hill.

A Diaspora Affairs Ministry spokesperson said the video, the first of a planned series on different topics, was intended to raise awareness among the Jewish community “of how bad the situation [in the negotiations] has gotten.”

“The film reveals Iran’s true motives and why the world needs to insist that Tehran dismantle its uranium-enrichment capabilities before a deal is signed,” the ministry said in a statement.

The spokesman said the video was done without consultation with the Foreign Ministry or the Prime Minister’s Office.

Diaspora Affairs Minister Naftali Bennett, head of the Orthodox-nationalist Jewish Home party, no stranger to making YouTube pitches, called for action against the nuclear deal he saw emerging.

“Now is the time to speak up and take action to stop a bad deal from being signed that will allow Iran to obtain a nuclear weapon,” Bennett, who also serves as economy minister, wrote in a letter accompanying the film.