Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Friday that President Trump’s “courageous decision” to denounce the Iran nuclear agreement on Friday could help prevent the rogue regime from obtaining nuclear weapons.
“President Trump has just created an opportunity to fix this bad deal, to roll back Iran’s aggression, and to confront its criminal support of terrorism,” Netanyahu said in a video released after Trump’s Iran speech.
Netanyahu is one of the fiercest international opponents of the accord that former President Barack Obama’s team negotiated with Iran and major world powers. Trump’s declaration that the deal, as written, is at odds with U.S. national security interests echoed some of Netanyahu’s own criticisms of the agreement. But it put him at odds with European allies who “stand committed” to the pact.
“If the Iran deal is left unchanged, one thing is absolutely certain: in a few years time, the world’s foremost terrorist regime will have an arsenal of nuclear weapons and that is a tremendous danger for our collective future,” Netanyahu said.
Trump avoided breaking the agreement utterly, by delaying the imposition of sanctions that Obama waived under the terms of the deal. Instead, he’s pursuing a “two-step process” that he hopes will result in the regime agreeing to new restrictions on their nuclear weapons, ballistic missile, and other aggressive foreign policy programs.
“In the event we are not able to reach a solution working with Congress and our allies, then the agreement will be terminated,” Trump said. “It is under continuous review and our participation can be cancelled by me at any time.”
European leaders who lobbied in defense of the deal gave a tepid response, but signaled a willingness to engage in new talks. “We stand ready to take further appropriate measures to address these issues in close cooperation with the US and all relevant partners. We look to Iran to engage in constructive dialogue to stop de-stabilizing actions and work towards negotiated solutions,” British Prime Minister Theresa May, French President Emmanuel Macron, and German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Friday.
Netanyahu sounded a more enthusiastic note. “Israel embraces this opportunity,” he said. “[E]very responsible government and any person concerned with the peace and security of the world should do so as well.”
