Netanyahu’s revealing presentation shows he has been “100 percent right” about the Iran nuclear deal, Trump stated.
By: World Israel News Staff and AP
US President Donald Trump praised Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s presentation of documents that show Iran has continually lied about its pursuit of nuclear weapons, saying it vindicated his stance against the nuclear deal with the Islamic Republic.
Trump said Monday the presentation made on Monday as well as other recent events show that he has been “100 percent right” about Iran. He clarified that Iran’s behavior is “just not an acceptable situation” and pointed to its missile tests, saying Iran is “not sitting back idly.”
“They’re setting off missiles which they say are for television purposes,” Trump said, “I don’t think so.”
Trump has declined to reveal whether he will withdraw the US from the 2015 nuclear deal, but said that if the US does pull out, he still may negotiate a “real agreement.”
He underscored that the US “got nothing” for the sanctions relief granted Iran under the accord and that it was a “horrible agreement for the United States.”
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the Iranian documents obtained by Israel prove that Iran lied about its pursuit of nuclear weapons and that its deception undercuts the international nuclear deal that it signed.
In a statement Monday night, Pompeo said he “personally reviewed many of the Iranian files” and that US experts consider the documents so far to be authentic.
“The documents show that Iran had a secret nuclear weapons program for years” while denying it was pursuing such weapons, he stated.
Pompeo stressed that the Iranians lied to the six nations who negotiated the Iran nuclear deal. “What this means is the deal was not constructed on a foundation of good faith or transparency. It was built on Iran’s lies,” he stated.
White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said in a statement that the “information provides new and compelling details about Iran’s efforts to develop missile-deliverable nuclear weapons.”
“These facts are consistent with what the United States has long known: Iran had a robust, clandestine nuclear weapons program that it has tried and failed to hide from the world and from its own people,” she stated.
“The Iranian regime has shown it will use destructive weapons against its neighbors and others. Iran must never have nuclear weapons,” she declared.
Nothing new?
However, the European Union’s (EU) foreign affairs chief, Federica Mogherini, said the newly revealed information does not appear to show Iran is currently violating the 2015 international nuclear agreement.
“What I have seen from the first reports is that Prime Minister Netanyahu has not put into question Iran’s compliance” of the deal, Mogherini said.
She insisted it is “first and foremost” the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) that must make the assessment as to whether Iran is abiding by the deal. She said that’s because “the IAEA is the only impartial, international organization that is in charge of monitoring Iran’s nuclear commitments.”
Netanyahu said he would share the new information with the IAEA.
Former US Ambassador to Israel Dan Shapiro sided with Mogherini and claimed that Netanyahu did not present any new information that the US was not aware of when it entered the nuclear deal.
Speaking to IDF Radio on Tuesday, Shapiro, a staunch supporter of former President Barack Obama, who signed the nuclear deal, said that Obama was aware of the facts revealed by Netanyahu.
He added that the question of whether the nuclear accord was good or not was not relevant, and that if Trump withdraws from the pact with Iran, “we will be in a new era.”
Iran’s state-run media attempted to mock Netanyahu’s presentation. The IRNA agency said Netanyahu is “famous for ridiculous shows.” Fars News dismissed Netanyahu’s speech as a “propaganda show.”