Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday that he will continue to make the case against a recent nuclear deal with Iran, arguing the agreement endangers his nation and should be scrapped.
In an interview on ABC’s “This Week,” Mr. Netanyahu hinted that he will lobby Congress to kill the agreement.
“Look, I think it’s very important for me as the prime minister of the one and only Jewish state to make our case against the deal that we believe endangers our security, our survival even, and the security of the Middle East and the world,” he said. “I think that’s important. It’s a substantive disagreement. It should be examined on the substance.”
Congress has 60 days to review the deal, announced by the U.S. and its international partners last week. The agreement limits Iran’s ability to acquire a nuclear bomb but does leave much of the country’s nuclear infrastructure in place. Over time, the agreement also lifts arms embargoes and ballistic missile restrictions on Tehran.
Iran also will get significant relief from international economic sanctions, which had been crippling its economy.
Mr. Netanyahu, like many in Congress, says the deal will embolden Iran and allow the country to exert even more power and influence in the region.
“The hard-liners in Iran are actually going to come out strong because they’re getting everything they want,” he said. “They’re getting a pathway down the line, within a decade or so, to the capacity to be a threshold state with practically zero breakout time to many nuclear bombs, and billions of dollars, hundreds of billions of dollars, which they’ll siphon off to their terror and war machine.”
• Ben Wolfgang can be reached at bwolfgang@washingtontimes.com.
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