Netanyahu Pushes World Not To Be Deceived By Rouhani: Iran Continues To Deceive While Centrifuges Spin

At least Netanyahu gets it:

Israel Pushes World Not To Be Deceived By Rouhani

Jerusalem urged the world on Thursday not to be fooled by Iranian President Hassan Rouhani’s smiles and to intensify sanctions against the regime until he takes concrete steps toward dismantling Tehran’s nuclear program.

“One should not be taken in by Rouhani’s deceptive words,” the Prime Minister’s Office said in a statement. “The same Rouhani boasted in the past how he deceived the international community with nuclear talks, even as Iran was continuing with its nuclear program.”

Rouhani said Iran was not seeking war, and slammed Israel for bringing “instability” to the Middle East and for questioning his government’s intentions toward nuclear arms.

He called Israel “an occupier, a usurper government that does injustice to the people of the region,” and said it “has brought instability to the region with its war-mongering policies.”

The Prime Minister’s Office ridiculed Rouhani for accusing Israel of causing instability in the region at a time when Iran was sending people into Syria to slaughter innocent civilians, and was supporting terrorism around the world.

“Only a combination of stopping uranium enrichment, removing all enriched uranium, dismantling the nuclear facility at Qom and stopping the plutonium track will constitute a real halt to the nuclear program,” the PMO said.

“Until these four steps are taken, the international community needs to intensify the pressure on Iran.

“The test is not Rouhani’s words, but rather the Iranian regime’s actions. Even while Rouhani was being interviewed, Iran was moving forward energetically with its nuclear program,” it said.

Rouhani’s regime is trying to cut a deal with the international community whereby it will give up an insignificant part of its nuclear program but retain and further fortify its ability to quickly develop nuclear arms at a time of its choosing, the Prime Minister’s Office said.

According to one Israeli official, Rouhani was long on smiles but short on substance during the interview, not saying yes or no when asked whether Israel should be wiped off the map, and not responding directly when asked whether, like his predecessor Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, he believed the Holocaust was a myth. Asked about the Holocaust directly, Rouhani replied, “What is important to Iran is that countries, people in the region grow closer and prevent aggression and injustice.”

Netanyahu: Iran Continues To Deceive While Centrifuges Spin

The world must not be deceived by the moderate statements made by Iranian President Hasan Rouhani, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Thursday night, in response to anNBC interview with Rouhani broadcast Wednesday. 

In the interview, Rouhani said that his country has never sought and will never seek a nuclear bomb, that Iran does “not seek war with any country,” and that he has full authority to resolve the nuclear standoff with the West.

“The Iranians are continuing to deceive so that the centrifuges continue spinning. The real test lies in the Iranian regime’s actions, not words,” said Netanyahu in a statement released by the Prime Minister’s Office.

“While Rouhani sits down for interviews, he also continues to move ahead with the nuclear program,” he added.

“The Iranian regime’s goal is to reach a deal that would require it to give up an insignificant part of its nuclear program, while allowing it to … charge forward quickly toward acquiring a nuclear weapon whenever it chooses.”

On Wednesday, the head of the Israel Atomic Energy Commission accused Iran of “deception and concealment,” warning the international community that the Islamic Republic was looking to buy time for its nuclear program.

Speaking at the annual meeting of the International Atomic Energy Agency in Vienna, Shaul Chorev said, “The picture that the Iranian representatives are portraying regarding openness and transparency of their nuclear program … stands in sharp contradiction with Iran’s actual actions and the facts on the ground.”

On Tuesday, Netanyahu announced that he would meet with US President Barack Obama in Washington DC later this month, ahead of his scheduled address at the UN General Assembly in New York, and will urge a stepping up of pressure on Iran to abandon its nuclear drive.

“I intend to focus on stopping Iranian nuclear program. Really stopping the nuclear program,” Netanyahu said at a cabinet meeting Tuesday, adding his criteria for efforts to do so.