Middle East Monitor / August 8, 2023
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Monday that, the “most important thing” is to produce a “credible” military threat against Iran, Anadolu has reported.
Netanyahu told a US Democratic Congressional delegation, organized by pro-Israel lobbyists and led by House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) and AIPAC President Michael Tuchin that, “The other thing is to use it.”
Israel and Iran are arch enemies. However, while Israel is doing all it can to prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear power for civilian use, never mind nuclear weapons, according to Western intelligence reports it possesses a large nuclear arsenal of its own, which it refuses to let the international community monitor.
“We don’t want a world in which Iran can threaten New York or Washington or Los Angeles or anything in between with nuclear weapons,” said Netanyahu. “We will do everything in our power, with or without this or that agreement, to defend ourselves.”
Diplomats from Iran, the US and five other countries started talks in April 2022 aimed at reviving a deal to re-impose restrictions on Tehran’s nuclear program in return for lifting economic sanctions. However, the currently stalled talks have not reached any agreement.
Israel has said repeatedly that it will not allow Iran to acquire nuclear weapons, even if it is forced to act “unilaterally”.
