Speaking in Prague, prime minister compares Iran's nuclear drive to that of North Korea's, says goal of upcoming negotiations should be freeze, removal of Iranian enrichment; IAEA expresses optimism ahead of talks.
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu on Friday dismissed a new surge of optimism in the international community that Iran might be prepared to halt its nuclear program.
"I have seen no evidence whatsoever that Iran is serous about stopping its nuclear weapons program," Netanyahu said at the tail end of his meeting in Prague with the president of the Czech Republic, Vaclav Klaus.
In their meeting, Netanyahu expressed concern about talks by the six powers — US, Russia, China, France, Germany and Great Britain — on Iran, set to take place in Baghdad on May 23. These talks follow a meeting held in Istanbul in April.
"It looks as though they (Iran) see these talks as another opportunity to deceive and delay, just like North Korean did for years," Netanyahu said. "They may try to go from meeting to meeting with empty promises. They may agree to something in principle but not implement it. They may even agree to implement something that does not materially derail their nuclear weapons program," he said.
"Iran is good at playing this chess game. They know that sometimes you have to sacrifice a pawn to save the King," Netanyahu said.
"The goal of these negotiations should be very clear. Freeze all enrichment inside Iran. Remove all enriched material and dismantle [the uranium enrichment facility near the city of] Qom," he said.
"When this goal is achieved I will be the first to applaud. Until then count me among the skeptics," he said. More
