Jerusalem: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Friday vowed to not let Iran have nuclear weapons until he serves as Israel’s PM, adding that he and US President Donald Trump “are in complete agreement on this issue.”
In a statement posted on X, Netanyahu stated, “As long as I am Prime Minister of Israel — Iran will not have nuclear weapons. There is full agreement between me and President Trump on this issue. For over 30 years, I have been at the forefront of the international campaign against Iran’s nuclear programme.”
“Had it not been for this campaign, Iran would long ago have had atomic bombs to destroy Israel. Iran is working to destroy the Jewish state, and I dedicate my life to preventing them from doing so. As long as I am Prime Minister of Israel, this will not happen,” he added.
Netanyahu’s statement comes a day after US President Donald Trump said that Iran has approved a framework agreement with the United States that would permanently bar Tehran from obtaining a nuclear weapon, raising expectations that a formal signing could take place within days.
Speaking at the White House, Trump said negotiations had reached the final stage and that documents were being prepared for what he described as a major diplomatic breakthrough following weeks of conflict.
“We just made a great settlement of the war with Iran, and we’re going to be subject to finalisation of documents, which should get done over the next few days,” Trump said. “We have a deal that Iran will never have a nuclear weapon, which was the whole purpose of what we had to go through to get this.”
Trump said the agreement was nearing completion and could be signed “very soon,” possibly over the weekend in Europe.
Asked whether Iran’s Supreme Leader had approved the arrangement, Trump responded, “I understand the answer is yes.”
Trump said the proposed agreement would prohibit Iran from acquiring or developing nuclear weapons under any circumstances.
“They will not purchase, develop in any way, any shape, in any way, shape or form a nuclear weapon,” he said. “They will not have a nuclear weapon.”
He described the arrangement as “a very strong memorandum of understanding” that had also received backing from several countries involved in regional diplomacy.
“It’s a very detailed memorandum of understanding, also agreed to by many other countries that have great influence over them,” he said.
Trump said he had spoken with leaders from Israel, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Kuwait following the breakthrough.
US President argued that recent military pressure had convinced Tehran to accept the agreement.
“They’ve taken a pounding,” Trump said. “They want to make the deal a lot more than I do.”
He claimed Iran’s military capabilities had been severely degraded during the conflict.
“Their navy is gone, their air force is gone, their anti-aircraft is gone, everything’s gone,” Trump said. “But we found them to be rational and they’re going to make a deal.”
Trump also suggested that a new leadership group had emerged in Tehran following the conflict.
“There’s a different group there’s a different level and I think it’s frankly a smarter level,” he said.
(IANS)
