Rebuke for Benjamin Netanyahu over Iran warning

Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu told Congress yesterday that an emerging agreement between Iran and the US would all but guarantee Tehran gets nuclear weapons and would be a bad deal, drawing a blunt rebuttal from US President Barack Obama.

Netanyahu said that “Iran has proven time and again that it cannot be trusted,” no matter what it says about permitting verification of the terms of any accord designed to prevent it from getting a nuclear bomb.

“The greatest danger facing our world is the marriage of militant Islam with nuclear weapons,” he said in remarks before a packed House chamber that drew loud applause from Republicans and a more restrained reaction from Democrats in an appearance that has stirred political controversy in two countries.

Obama saw it differently and said that the Israeli leader offered no “viable alternatives” to the nuclear negotiations with Iran and that the prospect of an agreement had already resulted in a freeze and rolling back of Iran’s programme.

Netanyahu spoke shortly after secretary of state John Kerry met for more than two hours in Switzerland with Iranian foreign minister Mohammad Javad Zarif in hopes of completing an international framework deal later this month to curb Tehran’s nuclear ambitions.

The Israeli leader’s appeal also came two weeks before tight elections in which he is seeking a new term — and after the invitation to Congress extended by House Speaker John Boehner, a Republican, triggered a political furore in the US because, in a violation of diplomatic protocol, the White House was not consulted.

More than four dozen House and Senate Democrats said in advance they would not attend the event, a highly unusual move given historically close ties between the US and Israel.

Many of Netanyahu’s comments were greeted by loud applause from US lawmakers, and not just Republicans, but not everyone was persuaded by his rhetoric.

House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi conspicuously refrained from applauding on several occasions. And when Netanyahu called for holding out for a better deal with Iran, she held her hands wide and shook her head in disagreement.

Netanyahu sought to smooth over any political unpleasantness, thanking Obama lavishly for the help he has given Israel. At the same time, he was unrelenting in his condemnation of the negotiations the administration is conducting with Tehran.

He said that, with the concessions the US was prepared to make, Iran would not only gain nuclear weapons, but also would become free of international economic sanctions.