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Asharq Al-Awsat
Asharq Al-Awsat
World
Asharq Al-Awsat

Israel’s Netanyahu Hails US Withdrawal from ‘Disastrous’ Iran Nuclear Deal

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu delivers a speech on Iran's nuclear program in Tel Aviv on April 30. (Getty Images)

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu voiced on Tuesday his strong support for US President Donald Trump's decision to withdraw from the 2015 Iran nuclear deal.

"Israel fully supports President Trump's bold decision today to reject the disastrous nuclear deal with the terrorist regime in Tehran," Netanyahu said in a televised address, referring to the multinational accord with his country's main enemy.

Netanyahu said leaving the current deal in place was "a recipe for disaster, a disaster for our region, a disaster for the peace of the world".

"This is why Israel thinks that President Trump did an historic move."

Netanyahu on April 30 unveiled tens of thousands of intelligence documents in another televised address that he said showed Iran's secret nuclear weapons ambitions.

Trump cited the Israeli intelligence haul during his announcement earlier on Tuesday of the US withdrawal from the agreements.

Proponents of the nuclear deal argued the trove of documents Israel obtained from Tehran shed little new light on Iran's nuclear program and, in fact, made the case for why the accord is important.

Netanyahu argues the documents show the deal was built on a lie -- Iran denied having pursued nuclear weapons -- and demonstrate that Tehran has a secret atomic weapons program ready to activate at any time.

Trump and his allies, particularly Israel, argue the agreement was too weak and needs to be replaced with a more permanent arrangement, supplemented by controls on Iran's missile program.

They also say the lifting of sanctions against Iran under the deal has increased its ability to finance proxy militants and other forms of aggression.

Trump had on Tuesday announced Washington’s pull out from the deal, saying he is planning to reinstall sanctions on the Iranian regime. He revealed that he will be reinstituting the highest level of sanctions, warning any country not to help the Iranian government.

"The United States does not make empty threats," he stated.

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