Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned European nations on Sunday that they were making a big mistake by trying to salvage the nuclear deal with Iran through a special mechanism that would bypass U.S. sanctions on the Islamic republic.
In a video message posted on YouTube, Netanyahu implored European nations to abandon their efforts to strengthen economic ties with Iran and instead join the U.S.-led “maximum pressure” effort, which was launched by the Trump administration a year ago after Washington withdrew from the 2015 nuclear deal.
“These European countries should be ashamed of themselves. Have they learned nothing from history? Well, apparently not. They are enabling a fanatic terrorist state to develop nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles, thereby bringing disaster to themselves and upon everyone else,” said Netanyahu.
“Now is the time to change course. Now is the time to ratchet up the pressures on Iran, not to lessen them. Now is the time to join the United States and increase sanctions against Iran. To those who favor appeasement of Iran, I say this: History and your own people will judge you harshly. Change course.”