Israel not bound by Iran deal: Netanyahu

Jerusalem, Jul 15: Israel is not bound by the nuclear agreement between Iran and the world powers and will always defend itself against Tehran, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said as the country's security cabinet unanimously voted to reject the deal.

Netanyahu said that the "stunning historic mistake" made in the nuclear deal between leading world powers and Iran has left the world "a much more dangerous place" to live in.

Israel's security cabinet unanimously voted to reject the deal with the hawkish Prime Minister stressing that it gives "Iran every incentive not to change".

"Right now we have one mission - to ensure that Iran will not arm itself with nuclear weapons later on," the Israeli Premier said.

"In any case, we will continue to defend ourselves, by ourselves, against anyone who threatens to destroy us," he emphasised.

Earlier, Netanyahu said that Israel is not bound by the international nuclear agreement with Iran, and that it "reserves the right to defend itself".

He stated the world was now a "much more dangerous place" and criticised the agreement as a "stunning historic mistake."

The Israeli Premier argued that the deal gives Iran every incentive not to change. By not dismantling the nuclear programme, the deal will give "an unrepentant" and "far richer" Iranian regime more regional power, he asserted.

The deal will "reward the terrorist regime in Iran" with hundreds of billions of dollars to support a worldwide terrorism network by removing the sanctions, the Premier contended.

"This cash bonanza will fuel Iran's terrorism worldwide, its aggression in the region and its efforts to destroy Israel, which are ongoing," he said.

Netanyahu also noted that the deal "repeats the mistakes" of an earlier international agreement with North Korea, in which international inspections failed to prevent the country from developing a nuclear weapons capability.

"There too we were assured that inspections and verifications would prevent a rogue regime from developing nuclear weapons. And we all know how that ended," he said.

The Israeli leader also talked to US President Barack Obama yesterday and is said to have expressed two of Israel's major concerns over the deal with Iran.

"The agreement allows Iran to develop extensive capabilities which will enable it to arm itself with nuclear weapons, whether that be in 10 or 15 years at the end of the agreement's term, or if Iran violates the agreement before then," he said.

"The agreement pumps hundreds of billions of dollars into Iran's terrorist and war machine, a machine that is turned against us and others in the region," Netanyahu said.

Israel has in the past described a nuclear Iran as an "existential threat" hinting at military strikes if required to prevent it from acquiring nuclear capability. Iran has constantly maintained that its nuclear programme is for peaceful purposes.

PTI