Netanyahu blasts global nuclear deal with Tehran
MUNICH — The international nuclear deal with Iran has emboldened Tehran to become increasingly aggressive in the region, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday, warning that Iran should “not test Israel’s resolve.”
If the U.S. decides to scrap the 2015 nuclear deal — a pact which he has long opposed — Netanyahu said of Iran: “I think they’ll do nothing.”
Declaring that Iran’s “brazenness hit new highs,” he theatrically held up a fragment of what he said was an Iranian drone shot down last week in Israeli airspace.
But Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, appearing two hours later at the same Munich Security Conference, fired back that Netanyahu’s comment was “delusional thinking.”
“I can assure that if Iran’s interests are not secured, Iran will respond, will respond serimain ously. And I believe it would be a response that means people would be sorry for taking the erroneous action they did,” he said.
U.S. President Trump has expressed deep skepticism about the Iran nuclear deal that lifted sanctions against the country. He extended sanctions waivers in January but said he would not do so again when they come up for renewal in May unless his concerns are addressed.
Former U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, a architect of the nuclear deal, said it was “absolutely critical” to ensure it survives.
“We know what the world looks like without the Iran nuclear agreement,” he said Sunday at the same conference. “It’s not a better place.”
Kerry dismissed Netanyahu’s contention that Iran would be on its way to having a nuclear arsenal in 10 years, saying “that’s fundamentally not accurate.”