JAKARTA - Israeli Prime Minister Naphtali Bennett accused Iran of violating all limits in its nuclear program, vowing not to allow Tehran to acquire nuclear weapons.
This was conveyed by PM Bennett in his inaugural speech at the UN General Assembly on Monday. He said Iran was trying to dominate the Middle East under a "nuclear umbrella" urging a more concerted international effort to stop Iran's nuclear activities.
But he also hinted at Israel's potential to act on its own against Iran, a threat that has been repeated many times.
"Iran's nuclear program has reached a breaking point and so has our tolerance. Words don't stop centrifuges from spinning. Israel will not allow Iran to acquire nuclear weapons," Prime Minister Bennett said, quoting Reuters on September 28.
Meanwhile, the UN ambassador to Iran, who has denied his country is seeking a nuclear bomb, rejected Bennett's speech and called it full of lies.
PM Bennett is known to oppose US efforts to revive the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, which was abandoned by President Joe Biden's predecessor, former President Donald Trump in 2018.
Washington's indirect talks with Tehran in Vienna, Austria have stalled, as Iran's new president, Ebrahim Raisi, has left the White House waiting for a move from the hardline Iranian politician.
In contrast to his predecessor prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, PM Bennett struck a less aggressive tone at the United Nations. Netanyahu has often relied on props to dramatize his accusations against Iran, an approach derided by critics as a political stunt.
But PM Bennett is as adamant as Netanyahu in pledging to do whatever is necessary to prevent Iran, which Israel views as an existential threat, from building nuclear weapons.
"Iran's nuclear weapons program is at a critical juncture. All red lines have been crossed," said PM Bennett.
"If we try hard, if we are serious about stopping it, if we use our minds, we can win," he continued, calling for international action.
Not only that, PM Bennett also took aim at Raisi, calling him a 'butcher of Tehran' and accusing him of committing human rights abuses for years. President Raisi is known to be under US sanctions for alleged rights violations when he was a judge.
"Iran phobia is rampant at the UN," Iran's UN Ambassador Majid Takht Ravanchi tweeted, responding to accusations leveled at Iran.
"Israel is not in a position to discuss our peaceful program when it has hundreds of nuclear warheads," he said, referring to Israel's widely believed status as the only nuclear-armed state in the Middle East.
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