Tuesday, May 25, 2010

Netanyahu: Iran deal deceptive; US sanctions not effective enough to stop Iran's Nuclear

(Ynet).`Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu broke his silence Tuesday regarding Iran's enriched uranium deal with Turkey, calling it “an act of deception.” Until this statement, the Israeli government had offered no official comment on the deal, apparently preferring to let other countries react to it first.

PM Netanyahu discussed several political and security issues in the Knesset Tuesday, including the uranium swap deal signed between Iran, Brazil and Turkey.

"It's an obvious Iranian deception aimed at diverting international public opinion away from sanctions against Iran in the Security Council," he said. "It's a phony proposal since Iran is keeping enough uranium for itself to produce nuclear weapons."

During a Knesset debate on Israel's government policy, Netanyahu praised the American Administration for its actions vis-à-vis Iran.

"I welcome the fact that the United States has decided to move forward with sanctions. It’s an important step in the symbolic sense, but we are not distracted by the fact that these sanctions won't stop Iran," he said. "Tougher sanctions would stress the determination to prevent nuclear weapons armament, but I am not certain these too would stop it."