Netanyahu set to discuss Iran ‘threat’ with Trump
JERUSALEM: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said yesterday he planned to discuss soon with US President Donald Trump how to “counter the threat” from Iran. “I plan to speak soon with President Trump about how to counter the threat of Iranian regime which calls for Israel’s destruction,” Netanyahu said in a video message posted on his Facebook page. Before his inauguration on Friday, Trump had repeatedly denounced the nuclear deal between Iran and six world powers, including the United States, which Israel has also staunchly criticized.
On Jan 16, Trump said in an interview with the Times of London and Bild newspaper of Germany: “I’m not happy with the Iran deal, I think it’s one of the worst deals ever made. I think it’s one of the dumbest deals I’ve ever seen, one of the dumbest.” But he declined to say whether he intended to “renegotiate” the deal, as he asserted regularly during the presidential campaign.
Netanyahu has been an ardent opponent of the 2015 pact signed by Iran, the United States, China, Russia, Britain, France and Germany. The deal placed curbs on Tehran’s nuclear program in exchange for the lifting of international sanctions. In December, Netanyahu said there were many ways of “undoing” the Iran nuclear deal and that he would discuss that with Trump. “I have about five things in mind,” he said.
But before he left office, former president Barack Obama warned against rowing back the pact, emphasizing its “significant and concrete results”. EU foreign affairs chief Federica Mogherini has also said that the bloc would stand by the accord - which she helped negotiate because it showed that diplomacy worked and served Europe’s security needs. And on Monday, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani that the nuclear deal was approved by the UN Security Council and therefore “is not a bilateral deal” with the US that Trump can renegotiate.
In the video message posted online, Netanyahu also addressed the Iranian people saying “we are your friend, not your enemy”. Netanyahu addressed the people of Iran in English, with Farsi subtitles. “You have a proud history. You have a rich culture. Tragically, you are shackled by a theocratic tyranny,” he said. Meanwhile, Israeli President Reuven Rivlin, whose role is largely ceremonial, said in a statement that he had invited Trump to visit Israel. — Agencies