Foreign ministry spokeswoman Marzieh Afkham denounced the Iranophobic speech made by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the US congress on Tuesday, calling it a ‘deceitful show’ which was nothing but part of Tel Aviv hard-liners’ electoral campaign.
“The speech indicated the radical group’s weakness and isolation even among Israel supporters, displaying their miserable efforts towards imposing extremist and illogical agendas on the arena of international scene,” IRNA quoted Afkham as saying.
The world public opinion, no doubt, has no respect for a “child-killer regime,” she said, condemning Netanyahu’s non-stop lying about Iran’s peaceful nuclear intentions. Deeming his speech as “boring and having nothing new to say,” she said the continuation of negotiations and Iran’s determination to resolve the fictitious crisis over its nuclear program has impeded the fake propaganda of ‘Iranophobia’, with its initiators struggling to keep it alive.
Reports say more than 50 Democrats skipped Netanyahu’s address, and according to White House sources, US President Barak Obama was not even watching the speech.
Speaking to reporters after Netanyahu’s speech, Obama said there was “nothing new” in his address.
Frustration
Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani said Netanyahu’s address is an indication of frustration in his ‘fake regime’.
“Netanyahu’s argument that the agreement will turn Iran into an economic power and therefore a regional threat was an effort towards provoking fear of Iran in the US Congress,” he said.
The Israeli official had claimed in his speech that with its current centrifuges Iran would be able to develop nuclear weapons, depicting Iran as a threat to the Middle East.
“It is interesting that such concern is announced by a person who has for years been leaning on 200 nuclear warheads,” said Larijani, describing it as a form of “bullying” in the international arena.
The speaker also pointed out to the contradictory remarks made by Netanyahu in the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) and the Congress, describing it as ‘weird’. “Netanyahu claims that Iran is a potential threat to the region that endangers the existence of Israel on the one hand, while on the other, he threatens the two negotiating sides that it will take military action against Iran if an agreement is signed over its nuclear program.”
“The regional felon has very well clarified by this remark that it has no intention of respecting any deal between the P5+1 and Iran,” said Larijani.
Elsewhere in his speech, the speaker announced that Iran has entered negotiations with determination, and the other side has well understood it. The negotiations are conducted in line with a specified framework aimed at peaceful nuclear achievement, he stressed.
The latest round of nuclear talks between Iranian and US delegations ended in Montreux, Switzerland on Tuesday.
Iran and the P5+1 (the five permanent members of the UN Security Council plus Germany) are negotiating to narrow their differences over Iran’s nuclear program ahead of a March-end deadline.
In another development, the spokesperson of the Majlis National Security and Foreign Policy Committee Hossein Naqavi Hosseini said on Wednesday that Iran has substantiated the peaceful nature of its nuclear program.
Therefore, Netanyahu’s remarks are an “insult” to all the negotiating sides as they ignored all efforts made so far in this regard, ISNA quoted him as saying.
Israel is pursuing two main goals: first, to “show off” its alliance with the US, and second, to use this alliance against Iran, the lawmaker said, adding Israel has always benefited greatly from Iran-US tense relations and now, with the end of the long-standing tension in sight, it finds its interests under threat and is resorting to any means to prevent an imminent agreement.
