BICOM

Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu conducted a series of media interviews in the United States yesterday, reiterating his warning that the international community must not be fooled by Iranian rhetoric as it continues to develop nuclear weapons.

In an interview with NBC’s Andrea Mitchell, Netanyahu repeated his deep distrust of Iran’s President Rouhani, continuing a theme from his speech to the United Nations’ (UN) General Assembly on Tuesday. Netanyahu said that Rouhani is aiming for “the completion of the nuclear program by speaking nicely to the West” and emphasised “Everybody knows that Iran wants to destroy Israel and it’s… trying to build atomic bombs for that purpose.” He also described the Iranian leadership as a “messianic, apocalyptic, radical regime.” However, Netanyahu emphasised “I want a diplomatic solution, but one that actually dismantles Iran’s nuclear program,” saying that any diplomatic initiative with Iran must be guided by the process of “distrust, dismantle, verify.”

Speaking to PBS’ Charlie Rose, Netanyahu warned that being guided by “fashion” regarding Iran would mean that “you’ll get good editorials and later you’ll get good eulogies.”

Meanwhile, Israel’s Channel Two reported yesterday that Israel has held a number of secret “intensive meetings” with prominent leaders of Gulf and other Arab states with a view to cooperation in stopping Iran’s quest for nuclear armament. In his address to the UN General Assembly, Netanyahu said that Iran’s nuclear ambitions “have led many of our Arab neighbours to recognize… that Israel is not their enemy” and presented an opportunity to “build new relationships.” Maariv reports this morning that during the coming months Netanyahu will look to build a coalition of European support to oppose any partial international agreement with Iran, which fails to permanently end Tehran’s nuclear programme.