Netanyahu speaking to the BBC
Photo: Haim Zach, GPO
Netanyahu welcomes decision to extend Iran nuclear talks
'No deal is better than a bad deal. The deal that Iran is pushing for was terrible,' the prime minister tells the BBC, saying Israel will continue working to stop Tehran from becoming a nuclear threshold state.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu welcomed Monday the decision to extend nuclear talks between Iran and world powers, saying that the deal Tehran was pushing for was "terrible," and extending the negotiations was a better option.
"We are anxiously monitoring the nuclear talks with Iran," Netanyahu said in a statement on his official English-language Facebook page, noting the Israeli government was working on all fronts - both diplomatic and via the world media - to protect Israel's interests in the talks.
While "It is very important that this agreement has been prevented as of now ... a struggle is yet before us and we intend to continue this struggle in order to prevent Iran from becoming a nuclear threshold state that would endanger us and others," he said.
"We have always said that no agreement is preferable to a bad agreement and the agreement that Iran signed is a very bad and dangerous agreement for Israel, for the region and in my opinion for the future of the entire world," the prime minister stated.
Netanyahu in an interview to the BBC (צילום: רוני אברהם, סאונד: רון שרף)
In an interview with the BBC, Netanyahu asserted that "the deal would've left Iran with the ability to enrich uranium for an atomic bomb while removing the sanctions," explaining that "The right deal that is needed is to dismantle Iran's capacity to make atomic bombs and only then dismantle the sanctions."
He said "the fact that there's no deal gives us the opportunity to continue the economic pressure that have proven to be the only thing that brought Iran to the table."
Insisting that "there's no right to enrich," Netanyahu said the Iranians only want to enrich uranium in order to develop an atomic bomb.
"How do we know that? Cause they're developing inter-continental ballistic missiles. What do you do with such missiles? The only reason you build ICBMs is to launch a nuclear warhead. So Iran - I think everybody understands - is unabashedly seeking to develop an atomic bomb," he told the BBC.
Both his interview to the BBC and his statement to the international press concluded with the prime minister noting that "Israel always, always reserves the right to defend itself."
