‘Don’t be fooled by Rouhani’s rhetoric’
Israel’s Prime Minister used his United Nations address on Tuesday to attempt a character assassination of Hassan Rouhani and counteract the inroads that he has made in Western opinion in recent days.
“I wish I could believe Rouhani, but I don’t because facts are stubborn things, and the facts are that Iran’s savage record flatly contradicts Rouhani’s soothing rhetoric,” said Benjamin Netanyahu.
He called Rouhani a “wolf in sheep’s clothing,” who wants to pull “the wool over the eyes of the international community” and is determined to get sanctions against Iran cancelled without making real concessions. “He definitely wants to get the sanctions lifted; I guarantee you that,” said Netanyahu. “But he doesn’t want to give up … Iran’s nuclear weapons program in return.
“Now here’s a strategy to achieve this. First, smile a lot. Smiling never hurts. Second, pay lip service to peace, democracy and tolerance. Third, offer meaningless concessions in exchange for lifting sanctions. And fourth, and the most important, ensure that Iran retains sufficient nuclear material and sufficient nuclear infrastructure to race to the bomb at a time it chooses to do so.”
Netanyahu went on to insist that Rouhani already has a record of duplicity. “You know why Rouhani thinks he can get away with this? … because he’s gotten away with it before, because his strategy of talking a lot and doing little has worked for him in the past.”
Netanyahu was talking about Rouhani’s stint as Iran’s chief nuclear negotiator between 2003 and 2005, and he brought quotes that suggested that he boasted that he had progressed the country’s nuclear capability while negotiating with the West.
The Israeli leader also linked Rouhani to terrorism and the repression of democratic rights.
On terrorism, he charged that Rouhani had known about Iranian-backed terrorist attacks, including the notorious Buenos Aires Jewish community centre attack of 1994, which took place during his 14-year term as head of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council.
On democracy he said: “Rouhani stood at this very podium last week and praised Iranian democracy – Iranian democracies. But the regime that he represents executes political dissidents by the hundreds and jails them by the thousands.”
Netanyahu voiced respect for the diplomatic process, but with two caveats. Firstly, he said: “We all want to give diplomacy with Iran a chance to succeed, but when it comes to Iran, the greater the pressure, the greater the chance. Three decades ago, President Ronald Reagan famously advised, ‘trust but verify.’ When it comes to Iran’s nuclear weapons program, here’s my advice: distrust, dismantle and verify.”
Secondly, Netanyahu stressed that Israel is still prepared to go it alone with military action against Iran if and when it deems it necessary. “I want there to be no confusion on this point. Israel will not allow Iran to get nuclear weapons,” he said. “If Israel is forced to stand alone, Israel will stand alone. Yet, in standing alone, Israel will know that we will be defending many, many others.”
NATHAN JEFFAY
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