Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett signaled to the world this week that Israel is preparing to take action against the Islamic Republic of Iran as it rapidly nears the point of having enough nuclear material to build a nuclear bomb, something that he vowed Israel would never allow to happen.
Bennett told reporters on Monday following his speech at the United Nations that Iran’s march toward acquiring nuclear weapons was “unacceptable” and that Israel was not just giving “apocalyptic warnings,” but taking action “in the present” to stop it.
The remarks from Bennett come as Iran has failed to live up to key agreements that it has recently made with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) centering around allowing inspectors to view what Iran is doing with their nuclear program and estimations that it has enough material for a weapon in a matter of days.
During his speech at the U.N., Bennett warned that Iran was behind much of the turmoil and violence that has plagued the Middle East and that the nation, which is the world’s leading state sponsor of terrorism, was not just a regional problem, but a global one.
Bennett spoke of Iran’s new hardline president, Ebrahim Raisi, who is nicknamed “the butcher of Tehran,” due to brutal death squads that murdered thousands of Iranian political activists back in the late 1980s.
“One of the witnesses of this massacre stated in her testimony, that when Raisi would finish a round of murder, he’d throw a party, pocketing the money of those he just executed, and then would sit down to eat cream cakes,” Bennett said. “He celebrated the murder of his own people, by devouring cream cakes. And now this very Raisi is Iran’s new president. This is who we’re dealing with.”
For the next several minutes, Bennett spoke about Iran’s nuclear program and the threat that it poses to the region, specifically the state of Israel, noting that Iran has made major leaps forward in virtually all key aspects of their nuclear program.
“Iran’s nuclear weapon program is at a critical point. All red lines have been crossed. Inspections — ignored. All wishful-thinking — proven false,” he said. “Iran is currently violating the IAEAs safeguard agreements — and it’s getting away with it. They harass inspectors and sabotage their investigations — and they’re getting away with it. They enrich Uranium to the level of 60 percent, which is only one step short of weapons-grade material — and they’re getting away with it.”
“Evidence which clearly proves Iran’s intentions for nuclear weapons in secret sites in Turquzabad, Teheran & Marivan — is ignored,” he continued. “Iran’s nuclear program has hit a watershed moment. And so has our tolerance.”
“Words do not stop centrifuges from spinning. There are those in the world who seem to view Iran’s pursuit of nuclear weapons as an inevitable reality, as a done deal, or they’ve just become tired of hearing about it,” Bennett added. “Israel doesn’t have that privilege. We cannot tire. We will not tire. Israel will not allow Iran to acquire a nuclear weapon.”
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