Iran: Excerpts from interviews by PM Netanyahu

MFA Newsletter

PM Benjamin Netanyahu on Fox News
Excerpts from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's interviews with Wolf Blitzer (CNN 22/9), Matt Lauer (NBC 23/9), Brett Baier (Fox 22/9) and Charles Gibson (ABC 22/9)

The danger posed by Iran to the Middle East:

The development of nuclear weapons by Iran would pose an enormous problem to the stability of the Middle East, to the flow of oil from the Middle East, to the security of my country, to the possibility of having terrorists enjoy a nuclear umbrella or having, or receiving, actually, nuclear weapons from this Iranian regime. [ABC]The danger posed by Iran to the world:

Iran is certainly a grave threat to Israel, but it's a grave threat to international peace. It's a grave threat to America and to everyone else. [CNN]
It's a worldwide interest and an American and joint American-Israeli interest to make sure that Iran does not get nuclear weapons. [Fox]
Iran's acquisition or development of nuclear weapons is a threat to everyone. [NBC]

Just imagine terrorists with nuclear bombs. [NBC]
Iran is the major sponsor of world terrorism. Now, imagine what terrorism could be if the terrorists had a patron that gave them a nuclear umbrella, or worse, if that patron actually gave them nuclear weapons. That’s a nightmare scenario, and we all have to ensure that it doesn’t happen. [ABC]
It's the major terror-sponsoring state of our time, and it could give those nuclear weapons to terrorists or give them a nuclear umbrella, which will bring terrorism beyond our wildest dreams to levels that are unimaginable. [NBC]

To have the ayatollah regime acquiring nuclear weapons, no matter how weak they are today, tomorrow they will be a hell of a lot stronger. And that is something that would threaten the peace of the world. It should not be allowed to happen. [ABC]


How close is Iran to having nuclear weapons?

They’re getting closer. There’s no question about that. [ABC]


Israel's right to defend itself:

Of course, every country reserves the right of self-defense and Israel is no exception. [ABC]

I'm willing to say what President Obama has said, namely, that all options are on the table is a position we support. [CNN]


International support for preventing Iran from developing nuclear weapons:

The [US] president assured me time and again that the goal is to prevent Iran from developing a nuclear weapon. And I think that’s the right goal. [ABC]

I think there is a growing understanding in the major capitals of the world - virtually in all of them - that it's important, that it's an international issue, an international concern to make sure that Iran does not develop nuclear weapons. [ABC]


Sanctions:

This is the time to apply pressure against this criminal regime. [NBC]
What I think is possible is for the international community to make Iran reconsider its blatant flaunting of international commitments and international obligations. It's possible to apply pressure on them. [Fox]

The application of external pressure, I think, would not coalesce the people of Iran with the government. It will actually coalesce them against the government, because they truly detest this regime. I think Iran is susceptible to pressure today. It’s highly dependent on the importation of refined petroleum. There are other things that could be done to weaken this regime, and they should be done quickly. If not now, when? [ABC]

It's possible to act in a multinational way without necessarily the Security Council. I hope they mobilize the Security Council for this necessary action. But even if they don't, we've seen time and again that if the major powers in the world - not all of them, but most of them - act in unison that it's possible to apply very strong pressure, and first and foremost economic pressure, on a country like Iran. [Fox]

I don't know if they'll pass it [sanctions] through the U.N., through the Security Council, but this is the time to act with what Hillary Clinton called crippling sanctions….And even if the U.N. Security Council can't get its act together, the leading powers of the day can put enormous pressure on Iran, especially when it comes to imported petroleum products, what we call in simple language gasoline. [NBC]

The Iranian regime is vulnerable. It's economically vulnerable. It's politically extremely vulnerable for a simple reason. The Iranian people hate it. They detest this medieval backward regime that is gunning them down.[NBC I think people know what the nature, the true nature of this tyranny is about. And the application of this pressure might do the job. The sooner we do it, the sooner we'll find out and the less will be the need to take stronger actions. [ABC]


The sale of anti-aircraft missiles to Iran:

Arming Iran with advanced weapons would give that regime the feeling that in fact they're immune to pressures - they're immune to the statement that President Obama has made repeatedly that all options are on the table. If they think that all options are not on the table it will be that much harder to make the sanctions work, so I think that for the sake of peace and for the sake of security, these weapons should not be given or sold to Iran. [Fox]