Iran cannot be trusted, Netanyahu warns
JERUSALEM (AFP) — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu kept up his assault on the framework nuclear deal between world powers and Iran, warning late Saturday that the Islamic republic could not be trusted.
It was the latest attack on the emerging deal under which Iran would curtail its nuclear activities in exchange for relief from punishing economic sanctions.
Following marathon talks in the Swiss city of Lausanne, the negotiators agreed on a framework deal on April 2, which Israel has repeatedly denounced as an “historic mistake.”
“To my regret, all of the things I warned about vis-avis the framework agreement that was put together in Lausanne are coming true before our eyes,” Netanyahu said.
“This framework gives the leading terrorist state in the world a certain path to nuclear bombs,” he warned.
“How can such a country be trusted?”
The emerging deal, which is to be finalized by June 30, would leave Iran with “significant nuclear capabilities,” he said.
“It is not dismantling them, it is preserving them. We also see that the inspection is not serious... As of now, there is no monitoring,” he said.
“We see that the sanctions are being lifted, immediately, according to Iran’s demand, and this is without Iran having changed its policy of aggression everywhere.”
Israel and many Western governments suspect Iran’s civilian nuclear program is a front for efforts to build a military capability — a charge which Tehran denies.
Israel has the Middle East’s sole, albeit undeclared, nuclear arsenal.