Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin
Netanyahu denounced President Barack Obama’s drive for a nuclear accord with
Iran on Tuesday, warning Washington is paving Tehran’s path to a bomb.
After Netanyahu delivered an
impassioned address to the US Congress, an exasperated Obama retorted that the
Israeli leader had no plan of his own to contain the Iranian threat.
And, with US Secretary of State John
Kerry in talks with his Iranian counterpart in Switzerland, the “P5+1″ world
powers pressed on for an accord that would limit Iran’s nuclear options while
loosening economic sanctions.
Netanyahu’s party faces a
close-fought Israeli parliamentary election in two weeks’ time and he has been
accused of imperilling Israel’s close ties with Washington for his own
political gain.
But, in a barnstorming speech to a
packed joint session of Congress, he pulled no punches in his denunciation of
the accord that he expects Tehran to be offered before the month is out.
“That deal will not prevent Iran
from developing nuclear weapons,” he declared. “It would all but guarantee that
Iran gets those weapons, lots of them.”
Obama did not watch the speech,
having arranged a video conference with European leaders on the crisis in
Ukraine, but afterwards he gave the Israeli leader’s argument short shrift.
“I am not focused in the politics of
this. I am not focused on the theater,” Obama said. “As far as I can tell,
there was nothing new.
“On the core issue, which is how to
prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon which would make it far more
dangerous, the prime minister did not offer any viable alternatives.”
“We don’t yet have a deal (with
Iran),” Obama added. “But if we are successful then, in fact, this will be
the best deal possible to prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons.”
-
‘Spark nuclear arms race’ -
While dozens of Obama’s Democrats
stayed away from the Congress address, many more lawmakers from both sides of
the aisle attended and gave Netanyahu several warm standing ovations.
“I deeply regret that some perceive
my being here as political. That was never my intention,” he insisted.
“We appreciate all that President
Obama has done for Israel.”
But, despite his conciliatory
opening words, Netanyahu’s speech built quickly into a thorough denunciation of
Obama’s efforts to strike an accord with Iran.
“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 regional stance and frequent threats against Israel.
“A deal that is supposed to prevent
nuclear proliferation would instead spark a nuclear arms race in the most
dangerous part of the planet,” he warned.
-
Mixed reviews at home -
Netanyahu received several standing
ovations in the chamber and good reviews from many US foreign policy hawks, but
afterwards some Democrats accused him of “fear-mongering.”
Leading House Democrat Nancy Pelosi
said she had been “saddened by the insult to the intelligence of the United
States.”
In Israel, the voters who will be
called to give a verdict on Netanyahu’s governing coalition in two weeks were
divided.
Some watching the speech in
Jerusalem told AFP they had been impressed by the respect he had been accorded
in the chamber, while others were concerned that he had recklessly interfered
in the domestic politics of a vital ally.
Iran denounced Netanyahu’s
intervention — even as Tehran’s envoys sat with Kerry in Montreux to hammer out
the nuclear agreement ahead of a March 31 deadline.
Foreign ministry spokeswoman Marzieh
Afkham accused Netanyahu of spreading lies about Iran’s nuclear program, which
Tehran insists is peaceful.
The anti-Iranian policy “is facing
serious problems because of the continuous talks and Iran’s serious
determination to overcome this fabricated crisis,” she was quoted as saying.
And she dismissed the speech as
repetitious, boring and a “sign of weakness.”
European Union foreign policy chief
Federica Mogherini also implicitly criticized Netanyahu, warning against
“spreading fears” and promising that a deal is getting close.
Netanyahu denounces Obama push for Iran nuclear deal
Reviewed by Unknown
on
Wednesday, March 04, 2015
Rating:
No comments: