Washington: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Iran deliberately targets civilians while Israel and the United States focus on “mass terrorists”, defending recent military action and praising US President Donald Trump as “resolute”.
In an interview with Sean Hannity on Fox News, Netanyahu described Iranian ballistic missile strikes in stark terms.
“Ballistic missiles like a truck, you know, it’s like a bus full of TNT, comes in at Mach 8 and slams right into a synagogue, okay and right around there, nine people murdered,” he said.
He drew a sharp distinction between Tehran and its adversaries.
“So here’s the difference between us. These mass murderers in Tehran, they target civilians. We, in Israel and America, target the mass terrorists,” Netanyahu said.
“That’s the nutshell of the difference. And we have to protect our world against these people,” he added.
Netanyahu said the recent action was necessary because Iran continued to advance its military capabilities despite previous strikes on its nuclear and ballistic missile infrastructure.
“The reason that we had to act now is because they were, after we hit their nuclear sites and their ballistic missiles program, you’d think they’d learn a lesson,” he said.
“But they didn’t, because they’re unreformable. They’re totally fanatic about this, about the goal of destroying America,” he continued.
According to Netanyahu, Iran began constructing new underground facilities that could shield its programmes from future military action.
“So they started building new sites, new places, underground bunkers that would make their ballistic missile program and their atomic bomb programs immune within months,” he said.
“If no action was taken now, no action could be taken in the future. And then they could target America. They could blackmail America. They could threaten us and threaten everyone in between,” Netanyahu warned.
“So action had to be taken. And you needed a resolute president like Donald J. Trump to take that action. And we are his very strong and able partners,” he said.
“And our alliance today is so strong, we had to take the action now, and we did,” Netanyahu said.
“Otherwise, the Iranian mass murder regime would have immunity from future action and regional confrontation,” he added.
(IANS)
