As Iran and representatives from the US, Russia, Britain, France, China and Germany are preparing to meet next week in Geneva for renewed talks on the Iranian nuclear programme, Israel’s Prime Minister told the West : ‘’Don't say I didn't warn you’’ on Tehran’s continued activities to enrich uranium.
At the so-called P5+1 talks, Iran will try to obtain from the West the loosening of the sanctions in return for ‘’cosmetic’’ compromises on the country's uranium enrichment, which Israel and the US say is intended to produce a nuclear weapon.
In a series of interviews with European media outlets, Netanyahu warned that ‘’you'll reduce the sanctions, the sanctions can collapse.‘’
“The Iranian regime is currently smiling and saying, ‘You know what? Let me continue enriching uranium, let me keep my plutonium reactors, and I’ll give you tactical concessions, cosmetic concessions, and you’ll ease the sanctions,’’ he said.
He added : “But if the sanctions are eased, the sanctions will collapse. They’ll get everything they want, and we, collectively, won’t get anything. Don’t say I didn’t warn you. We have an odyssey of 4,000 years, the Jewish people. People have tried to destroy us time and time again. They have not succeeded and we're not going to let the likes of the Ayatollahs succeed. The important thing is it's not merely an Israeli issue. It's also your issue. And I think it's an issue for Germany. I expect them to do the right thing, and the right thing is not to fall into a trap."
“At this juncture, we have to say things clearly, and the clear thing is this: Iran should not have centrifuges, it should not have plutonium plants. These things should be completely dismantled, as was stipulated by the Security Council resolutions, as was demanded by the P5+1,” he said.
‘’Don't let a regime with unlimited ambitions and aggression – Iran – that is participating in the mass murder of Assad, propping Assad up right now, against thousands and tens of thousands of men, women and children; that is practicing terrorism across five continents; that has violated every Security Council resolution calling them to stop enrichment – don't let them have enrichment. Be tough, be strong, be consistent."
Netanyahu was interviewed by The Financial Times, France’s Le Monde and Germany’s Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, as well as by British Sky News, France 24 and Germany’s ARD television networks.
In the interview with the Financial Times, he denounced Britain’s plan to renew diplomatic relations with Iran. He said that as long as Iran refuses to recognize Israel and keeps calling for its annihilation, London shouldn’t resume ties with Tehran.
The Israeli premier referred to a picture in his office of Winston Churchill and recalled what Churchill said about arming the Nazis. ‘’He said, don't let the Nazis arm themselves. Don't let an implacable radical regime have awesome power. And he was right. And I think there's a lesson to be learned here.’’
Earlier this month, Netanyahu, while in the US for a meeting with US President Barack Obama and an address to the UN General Assembly, gave a series of similar interviews ith major American broadcasters in which he warned that Iranian president Hassan Rouhani was lulling the West into a false sense of security whilst continuing to enrich uranium amid a calm air of diplomacy.