Netanyahu: Not too late to stop ‘bad deal’ with Iran

Netanyahu again warned against making a “bad deal” with Iran, urging global leaders to work towards a safer agreement that would ensure global stability.

By: Aryeh Savir, World Israel News

US Secretary of State Kerry (L) and Iranian Foreign Minister Zarif during the nuclear negotiations. (AP/Susan Walsh)

Iran and the P5+1 powers are less than a month away from the June 30th deadline, by which time they aim to seal a final accord regarding Tehran’s nuclear aspirations. Israel fears that a nuclear deal would enable Iran to develop nuclear weapons, and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has repeatedly warned the world against a “bad deal” that would endanger Israel’s existence, destabilize the Middle East and pose a threat to the world at large.

In his video address to the Jerusalem Post conference in New York Sunday, Netanyahu said it was still not too late to achieve a good deal with Iran, and he exhorted the world to pursue a safer agreement with Iran.

Nevertheless, “Israel has no better friend in the world than the United States,” Netanyahu told the American audience, “and the United States has no better friend than Israel. I want to thank President Obama, the Congress and the American people for all they have done for Israel’s security.”

Relations between Jerusalem and Washington have been tense in recent months, especially on the Iranian issue, and “even the closest of friends can respectfully disagree about issues of international security. And of these, none is more important to Israel, to the stability of the Middle East and to the peace of the world, than the threat posed by Iran’s nuclear program,” said Netanyahu.

“Preventing Iran from being able to build nuclear weapons is the preeminent challenge of our generation. We must understand that Iran doesn’t just threaten the destruction of Israel; it is conquering huge swaths of the Middle East as it seeks to export its Islamic revolution across the globe,” he warned.

Iran is sponsoring terrorism across the globe, is conducting “an unprecedented conventional arms build-up,” and is doing all this without nuclear weapons. ”Think of what Iran would do tomorrow with nuclear weapons” the Israeli leader stated.

He warned that the current framework under negotiation “paves Iran’s way to produce the enriched uranium for an entire arsenal of nuclear weapons.”

“That’s the inevitable outcome if Iran keeps the deal,” he continued. “If they decide to break the deal, they can get to the bomb much sooner. The deal also gives Iran tens of billions of dollars immediately, and hundreds of billions of dollars in the coming years,” which it would use to finance its military build-up and terror network.

“It would be a historic mistake to rush now to conclude this bad deal,” Netanyahu declared. “What are needed are patience and resolve, to hold out for a better deal, one that will actually block Iran’s path to the bomb, one that will tie the lifting of restrictions on Iran’s nuclear program to changes in Iranian behavior.”

“A better deal is still possible. It’s not too late,” he concluded.

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