Netanyahu warns of nuclear arms race in Mideast

Tel Aviv : Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned on Sunday of a nuclear arms race in the Middle East if the deal to limit Iran’s nuclear programme was not changed or revoked.

During remarks at the beginning of the weekly cabinet meeting, Netanyahu said his discussions with US President Donald Trump and other officials in Washington last week focused mainly on Iran, Xinhua news agency reported.

“I said that the nuclear agreement with Iran contains within it many dangers for the world, including the special danger of the nuclearisation of the Middle East,” Netanyahu said, according to an statement.

“Many countries in the Middle East are saying that they are also allowed to enrich uranium if Iran is allowed to do so; therefore, the way to prevent this danger, the nuclearisation of the Middle East, is to either thoroughly correct the agreement or abrogate it,” he said.

Netanyahu reportedly referred to Saudi Arabia, which is in talks to buy nuclear reactors from the US.

“Moreover, I remind you that Iran declares, on an almost daily basis, its intention to wipe out Israel. It is hardly worth saying that we will not allow this, to put it mildly,” he added.

Netanyahu has been a vocal opponent of the nuclear deal signed in 2015 between Iran and the six world powers in order to limit Tehran’s nuclear plan and prevent it from achieving atomic weapons.

In January, Trump announced that he will waive sanctions against Iran and extend the nuclear deal after he disavowed the deal three months earlier.

Israel is widely believed to hold hundreds of nuclear warheads, which the country has never officially acknowledged to exist.

IANS