April 7 (UPI) -- Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned Wednesday that Israel will not be bound by any deal world powers make with Iran if it leads to Tehran securing nuclear weapons.
During a ceremony to mark Holocaust Remembrance Day at Jerusalem's Holocaust History Museum, Netanyahu said relations between Israel and the Arab world have improved over the past few years, signing peace agreements with Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, Sudan, Morocco and others.
However, the tabling of a new nuclear deal with Iran is a threat to Israel, he said.
"History has taught us that such agreements with such extremist regimes are worth nothing," he said. "To our friends, I say: Let there be no mistake, an agreement with Iran that will pave the way for nuclear weapons -- weapons that threaten us with destruction -- such an agreement will not bind us in any way."
Related
Netanyahu, who is currently standing trial on corruption charges as he seeks to form a coalition government following a fourth election in two years, made the comments Wednesday as the United States, Iran, the European Union, Russia and others met in Vienna on Tuesday to discuss the resumption of the multination Obama-era nuclear deal.
Signed by Britain, China, France, Germany, Russia and the United States in 2015, the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action aimed to restrict Iran's nuclear industry, but former President Donald Trump pulled the United States from the deal in 2018, calling it defected to its core, slapping sanctions against Tehran and sinking relations between the two countries.
In response, Iran repeatedly reneged on its conditions under the deal, inching it toward nuclear weapons capabilities.
The administration of President Joe Biden has said it is willing to re-enter a strengthened and lengthened agreement with Iran after it comes back into compliance with the original deal.
Talks on Tuesday had been "constructive," Abbas Araqchi, who lead the delegation to Austria, said.
On Wednesday, Netanyahu said during the Holocaust Jewish people lacked the power and sovereign right to defend themselves, two issues that no longer exist.
"Today, we have a state, we have a protective force and we have the natural and complete right as a sovereign state of the Jewish people to protect ourselves from our enemies," he said.
