Washington (AFP) March, 3rd, 2015 – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared Tuesday that the deal being negotiated between world powers and Iran would leave Tehran free to develop nuclear weapons.
In an impassioned address to the US Congress, conducted even as Secretary of State John Kerry was in nuclear talks in Switzerland with his Iranian counterpart, Netanyahu branded Iran a global threat.
“That deal will not prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons,” he said, placing himself in stark opposition to US President Barack Obama’s policy of containing Iranian ambitions through a diplomatic accord.
“It would all but guarantee that Iran gets those weapons, lots of them,” he said, dismissing promises from US and European leaders that the planned accord would block Iran’s path to the bomb.
“Iran’s nuclear program would be left largely intact. Iran’s breakout time would be very short,” he said.
“So you see, my friends, this deal has two major concessions. One, leaving Iran with a vast nuclear program. Two, lifting the restrictions on that program in about a decade,” he said.
“That’s why this deal is so bad. It doesn’t block Iran’s path to the bomb. It paves Iran’s path to the bomb.”
He cited the strength of Iranian-backed factions in Lebanon, Yemen, Syria and Iraq as evidence of Tehran’s regional ambitions, and recalled threats against his own people.
Thus, he said, no nuclear deal should weaken economic sanctions against Iran until its government ends its aggressive stance and alleged support for terrorist violence.
“A deal that is supposed to prevent nuclear proliferation would instead spark nuclear arms race in the most dangerous part of the planet,” he warned.
“This deal won’t be a farewell to arms. It would be a farewell to arms control.
“The Middle East would soon be criss-crossed by nuclear trip wires. A region where small skirmishes trigger big wars would turn into a nuclear tinderbox,” he said.
“Before lifting these restrictions, the world should demand that Iran do three things.
“First, stop its aggression against its neighbors in the middle east. Second, stop supporting terrorism around the world. And third, stop threatening to annihilate Israel…”.