Former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned on Monday that the nuclear agreement being finalized between world powers and Iran in Vienna would give Iran a path to nuclearization and urged Israeli decision-makers to actively campaign against it.
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Speaking with i24NEWS, the opposition leader said that "the right policy from Israel's point of view should be to speak out against it," adding that the current government could follow the path he took in railing against the 2015 deal.
#EXCLUSIVE: U.S. policy on #Iran is 'weak', former prime minister @netanyahu tells i24NEWS' @lockerbell
'What is needed is a consistent, aggressive action against the most aggressive, poisonous regime on the planet' pic.twitter.com/3PCR0hr3BX
— i24NEWS English (@i24NEWS_EN) February 21, 2022
"Look, I went to the US Congress to speak out against the sitting American president. I didn't do that lightheartedly. I knew that I was doing something unprecedented but I knew the survival of my country, and in my opinion, the survival of many countries was at stake, so I did it. I spoke at UN forums, I spoke on endless television interviews, I did everything I could to mobilize the Senate and Congress against this, what I thought, was a dangerous agreement for the US, for Israel and for everyone else," Netanyahu said.
The US announced its departure from the deal in 2018 and reimposed sanctions on Tehran but according to various reports over the past several days, it may soon reenter as part of a new understanding with Iran, effectively ending the policy of "maximum pressure" imposed by the previous US administration. Netanyahu said negotiators in Vienna must leave the table if they do not get a good deal.
Netanyahu said negotiators must insist on "a deal that forces Iran to dismantle its nuclear military infrastructure, that doesn't let the develop their ballistic missiles to deliver a weapon, that stops weapon development, that stops terror, that ties the progress in lifting the restrictions on Iran to Iran's behavior – not to the change of calendar, which is what this deal does.
"The most important thing to say is with a deal or without a deal, Israel must do what it needs to do, to defend itself against this extraordinary threat to its existence and its future."
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