As the Iranian nuclear negotiations teeter on the brink, Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu is saying the world has more to fear from a nuclear-capable Iran than ISIS terrorists. The statement comes after the jihadists threatened to “uproot” the Jewish state.
Netanyahu’s statement was made on Thursday, as the talks over
Iran’s nuclear program held in Vienna showed no clear sign of
progressing to a solution acceptable to all sides.
The Israeli PM, famous for showing a cartoon with a bomb at the
UN to illustrate his fears, made the warning during a visit to
Israel’s cyber park in Beersheba.
He sent his condolences to Egypt for the recent terrorist attacks
in Sinai that killed dozens of troops, along with nearly 100
attackers, and that the Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL)
claimed responsibility for. Having declared that the two
countries are partners in the fight against the terrorist group,
Netanyahu went on to claim that its actions are
“nothing” compared to the prospect of a nuclear Iran.
READ MORE: ISIS threatens Hamas – but move could bring
Israel Palestine closer to fight common enemy
“Obviously no one thinking with a clear mind would consider
giving Islamic State nuclear weapons,” Netanyahu said as
cited by the Jerusalem Post. “But in the negotiations taking
place now with Iran, this extreme state that spreads terrorism
around the world is being given the ability to develop a nuclear
weapons arsenal with many nuclear bombs, together with the means
to deliver them.
“We should not strengthen one at the expense of the
other,” he went on. “We need to weaken both and prevent
the aggression and military buildup of both of them.”
The fresh warning by Netanyahu also comes on the heels of a rare
video publication from IS, intent on threatening both Israel and
everyone in the vicinity, including Hamas, over in Gaza.
But Netanyahu’s doom-laden prophecies are nothing new. The PM in
late May also claimed he sees “no reason to rush to a
deal, and certainly not a bad deal that paves Iran’s path to the
bomb, but also fills Iran’s coffers with tens of billions of
dollars to pursue its aggression throughout the Middle East and
around Israel’s borders.”
He had then called Iran “the preeminent terrorist state of
our time,” again, issuing unfavorable comparisons to the IS.
What it really takes for a US-Iran deal (Op-Edge by Pepe
Escobar) http://t.co/THqmTCBTyh pic.twitter.com/GG4UVaRAfC
— RT (@RT_com) 1 июля
2015
Over in Vienna, the six world powers tasked with negotiating over
Tehran’s nuclear program have extended the deadline for a decision by one week as
of June 30.
The P5+1 group of international mediators – the UK, China,
France, Russia, the US and Germany – have been locked in lengthy
negotiations with Iran to ensure the peaceful nature of the
program.
The UN International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is expected to
announce in July that Iran has reduced its stockpile of
low-enriched uranium to the level of about 7,650kg, which was
required to be done under a preliminary nuclear deal by June 30,
Reuters reported, citing diplomatic sources at the
Vienna talks. Previously Iran had some 8,714 kg of low-enriched
uranium.
The extension was reportedly necessitated by “US negotiators…
opening up discussions points that Iran thought they’d already
dealt with,” according to Sharmine Narwani, a Middle East
commentator speaking recently to RT. This reportedly includes
more leeway for inspectors to survey Iran’s military sites, a
provision the Islamic republic has already rejected.