Netanyahu praises Trump’s tough stance on Iran

Netanyahu lauded US President Donald Trump for putting pressure on Iran to stop its intervention in Syria and end its uranium enrichment. 

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu praised the Trump administration’s tough stance toward Iran after US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s speech laying out the conditions for a nuclear deal with Iran.

“No enrichment, tough sanctions and Iran should get out of Syria. We believe that it’s the only policy that can ultimately guarantee peace.” Netanyahu said at a reception for Paraguay’s president in honor of the country’s opening of its embassy in Jerusalem.

“Iran doesn’t need centrifuges for enrichment. If Iran wanted to pursue a peaceful nuclear program they wouldn’t need to hide their nuclear archive,” Netanyahu added. “Thank you, America, this is the right policy.”

Netanyahu said, “We believe it’s the only policy that can ultimately guarantee the security of the Middle East and peace in our region.” He called for other countries to follow America’s lead.

Opposition joins in the praise

Yair Lapid, the head of the Yesh Atid party,  said Pompeo’s 12 conditions were a positive development.

“In an clear and strong speech he said today that Iran needs to get out of Syria and immediately stop its support for Hezbollah and Hamas. Iran needs to stop its nuclear and ballistic missile programs,” tweeted Lapid.

“The world must work together against Iranian terror,” he stated.

J Street bashes Trump’s Iran policy

America is “almost totally isolated and is acting as a destabilizing force in the Middle East” under President Donald Trump, J Street, a lobbying group that presents itself as the leftwing version of AIPAC, said in a comment. .

“Let’s be clear: Today, it’s the US alone that is in violation of the historic JCPOA arms control agreement. Under the guidance of his new war cabinet, the president has demanded Iran’s complete and unconditional capitulation on a maximalist list of demands – an approach that is a recipe for confrontation and war,” Dylan Williams, the group’s vice president of government affairs, said in a statement.

“The only way now to ensure that a profoundly unfit president and his regime change-obsessed advisers cannot bring about another costly and bloody war of choice is for Congress to exercise its constitutional duty to act as a check on the president,” he added. “Congress must make clear that the president does not now have its authorization for the use of military force against Iran.”

AIPAC welcomes Pompeo speech

AIPAC, on the other hand, said it welcomes Pompeo’s speech.

“We welcome @SecPompeo’s important speech on Iran today, in which he outlined a comprehensive US policy to prevent Iran from ever obtaining a nuclear weapon and to confront its regional aggression,” the prominent pro-Israel lobby group says in a tweet.