Hammond, Netanyahu meet in Jerusalem
British foreign secretary and Israel's prime minister discuss Iran deal; Netanyahu: Deal is 'not a triumph for diplomacy, but a failure of diplomacy'.
Hammond acknowledged Netanyahu's remarks on demonstrations in Iran in which Israeli and American flags are burned, saying: "We will judge Iran not by the chants on the streets of Tehran, but by the actions of its government."
Netanyahu, for his part, argued that "Iran's terrorist activities encompass over thirty countries, across five continents. The deal agreed to in Vienna, I regret to say, paves this terrorist regime's path to the bomb.
"The alternative to this bad deal is not war," said the prime minister. "The alternative is a better deal that would roll back Iran's military nuclear program and tie the easing of restrictions on Iran's nuclear program to changes in Iran's behavior." Netanyahu said the deal was "not a triumph for diplomacy, but a failure of diplomacy."
Hammond insisted that the agreement would not have been reached without definite measures to ensure Iran's compliance. "Despite our different views, I urge Israel to work with the UK to ensure the deal's fully implemented and effectively monitored," said Hammond.
The meeting came on the heels of Hammond's comment on Wednesday that Israel would not have been satisfied with any kind of nuclear deal with Iran.
"The question you have to ask yourself is what kind of a deal would have been welcomed in Tel Aviv," he said in parliament. "The answer of course is that Israel doesn't want any deal with Iran."
