Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made a fairly dramatic statement Wednesday in his speech at the state ceremony held at Mount Herzl in Jerusalem, where the grandfather and grandmother of the visionary of the Jewish state were brought for burial.
According to him, the commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, Ahmad Vahidi, had “explicitly declared” that Iran intended to develop nuclear weapons.
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Netanyahu claims: Vahidi declared that they intend to continue developing nuclear weapons
(Photo: WZO)
Netanyahu claimed that the remarks had been made that very day, but no such statement, at least not a public one, was issued or reported by media outlets in Iran, which for years has publicly insisted, falsely of course, that it never intended to develop nuclear weapons.
Such a statement, if it was indeed made, would therefore constitute a dramatic change of direction by the ayatollah regime and would naturally also have received extensive coverage in international media outlets.
An alleged quote by Vahidi, without any explanation of where the source came from or what the report was based on, was published in an English-language post on Channel 14’s account on X about three hours before Netanyahu spoke.
The alleged quote by Vahidi appeared half an hour earlier in a post by an unofficial English-language account calling itself Mossad Commentary. After Netanyahu’s speech, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Mike Waltz also shared a post containing the claim, which, as noted, it is unclear was actually made. “Finally admitting what has been obvious for years,” Waltz wrote.
For now, as noted, it remains unclear whether this explicit Iranian threat was actually voiced. Such a statement, if it had indeed been made, would certainly have greatly angered President Donald Trump in the midst of contacts with Iran over reopening the Strait of Hormuz, an opening that is also supposed to pave the way for talks on a nuclear agreement.
Ahmad Vahidi appointed new commander of the Revolutionary Guards
In his speech at the ceremony, Netanyahu first referred to the story of Ze’ev Herzl and said: “He listened and understood what the antisemites, such as the mayor of Vienna who was elected at the time, were planning. He did not shut his ears. We do not shut our ears either. Today we heard Revolutionary Guards commander Vahidi explicitly declare Iran’s intention to continue developing nuclear weapons. To continue! That is what he said. Well, as prime minister of Israel, I too am determined to continue preventing Iran from possessing nuclear weapons.
“And I would like to make clear: President Trump is our greatest friend. The greatest friend we have had in the White House. And the United States is our greatest ally. And everyone also understands this: We greatly appreciate our joint efforts, ours and those of the United States, against Iran’s nuclear ambitions, but I would also like to make clear: Israel’s existence is not subject to negotiation. With an agreement or without an agreement, I am determined, we are all determined, that we will do everything necessary to ensure our security and our future. Israel is a strong nation-state, proud of its identity and confident in the justice of its path.”
Only about a month ago, it should be recalled, Netanyahu made the surprising claim that Iran allegedly already had atomic bombs.
In an interview with Channel 14 at the end of June, Netanyahu said: “I went into Iran twice to save us from annihilation by atomic bombs that were already in their hands, and who knows who would be here today.”
He later added: “There will be a third time if necessary. As long as I am prime minister, Iran will not have nuclear weapons.”
Yashar! party chairman Gadi Eisenkot claimed the following day that this was an invention. “Netanyahu made smug remarks. Iran had no nuclear bombs whatsoever. He is inventing a reality in order to frighten the Israeli public,” Eisenkot said.