Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday said Tehran was implacably opposed to the the United States and Israel and could not be coaxed into a deal in which it abandons nuclear and military ambitions.
The comments suggested the Israeli premier, in Washington on a visit to meet President Donald Trump, remained deeply suspicious of any further US diplomacy with Tehran.
“A good deal with Iran means they stop all nuclear activity, all enrichment. They would stop building these ballistic missiles, which are against international treaties. They would also dismantle the terror axis," Netanyahu told Fox News in an interview which aired on Wednesday.
"That would be a good deal — but I think that’s not the regime we’re dealing with.”
“That regime has a built-in DNA, and that DNA says: ‘No America, no Israel,'" Netanyahu added.
"They want to get past Israel to reach America. They are developing long-range ballistic missiles with nuclear warheads to threaten you and every American. And that is what has been stopped.”
Tehran was dealt heavy military blows in a 12-day war with Israel which was capped by US military strikes on three nuclear sites in Iran.
US forces targeted Iran’s nuclear sites at Fordow, Natanz, and Isfahan using bunker-buster bombs and Tomahawk cruise missiles on June 22, in a mission Trump said "obliterated" Iran's program.
Netanyahu, without citing evidence, said Iran had accelerated its nuclear program after Israel took military action against Hezbollah in Lebanon.
“They did that after we crushed Hezbollah and got rid of Nasrallah. The Iranian axis in the Middle East was broken. What did they have left? They rushed to nuclear weapons. That is one cancerous growth that could kill us,” Netanyahu said.
Israel killed hundreds of the Hezbollah fighters and leaders in a conflict which reach a crescendo late last year. A truce left Iran's old ally much depleted.
When asked how close Iran is to building a nuclear weapon, Netanyahu said: “About one year”.
