Washington Post columnist David Ignatius said Monday that any deal between the White House and Tehran that requires a lifting of the U.N. arms embargo against Iran would be seen by Israel as a "direct threat."

The embargo was imposed on Iran in 2007 and strengthened in 2010. Ignatius said during an interview on MSNBC that lifting it would be "particularly damaging" to any potential deal between the United States and Iran, because America's allies in the Middle East would see it as a total capitulation to Iran's demands.

"Israel will see [lifting the embargo] as a direct threat, as it will arm the people Israel is fighting. The Sunni Arabs, as you said, will see this as a major capitulation by the U.S., so that is really important in terms of the politics of the deal," Ignatius said on MSNBC's "Morning Joe."

"Morning Joe" host Joe Scarborough agreed, saying that a move to ease the embargo would be "horrific" and a sign that the pending deal between Tehran and Washington, D.C., is simply not a good one.

Talks between the United States and Iran have been going on for years, but the idea of lifting the embargo was only recently floated by Tehran. When Iran first approached the topic, it was dismissed outright as a political nonstarter.

But according to recent reports out of Vienna, Austria, where the negotiations are being held, State Department officials may actually be considering agreeing to Iran's last-minute demand as part of a final deal.

Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon said his county would likely be left to "defend itself, by itself," if any final deal is reached.