Really moderate, or just for show? Iranian President Rouhani. Illustrative. FEMA/Marty Bahamonde.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu wasted little time in making clear his nation’s opposition to the reported compromise American is willing to make in a nuclear deal with Iran. In comments published by his office on Wednesday, Netanyahu said, “Israel will oppose this deal, which is dangerous to us, dangerous to the region, dangerous to the world.” While Israel doesn’t like this arrangement, Iran sounds like they do.
The statements come after The Jerusalem Post, citing Israel radio, reported that the US is open to allowing the Iranians to keep 6,500 centrifuges—machines used in the process of turning uranium into nuclear fuel—if the Iranians work to keep the Middle East quiet. Iran is a major sponsor of regional terrorism and is helping the Syrian regime stay afloat in their civil war.
The goal of the nuclear talks is to reduce the threat of an Iranian nuclear bomb by increasing the time and difficulty it would take Iran to build one. Israel is concerned that a watered-down deal will fail to legitimately achieve this and leave open to Iran the option of nuclear weapons down the road.
In comments published by PressTV, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said of the nuclear talks with the major world powers, “Fortunately, the trend is proceeding within the framework set by” Iran. He further claimed that “differences have narrowed” between the sides at this time.
Netanyahu, in his opposition to the deal, highlighted that Iran is sponsoring terrorism on both their northern front in Lebanon and in the south in Gaza. Said the Israeli leader, “It’s curious to me that in the face of this terror activity of Iran, both here in the region and throughout the world, leading countries in the world are not demanding that Iran cease this activity, but are racing to forge a deal that would enable Iran to have nuclear weapons, and that is the greatest danger of all.”
Comparing Iran’s hanging of people from cranes in public to ISIS’ (ISIL’s) burning alive of a Jordanian Air Force pilot, Netanyahu said, “Both are motivated by an extreme ideology of militant Islamic terrorism that has a cruelty that is unbounded.
“But the greatest danger to the future and the security of the world is that this extremism will be backed up by nuclear weapons. This is something everyone must oppose.”
(By Joshua Spurlock, www.themideastupdate.com, February 4, 2015)