Iran continues its nuclear program although the country is “bankrupt” because of sanctions the international community, said Thursday the Israeli Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, according to AFP.
“Iran is on the verge of bankruptcy due to international economic sanctions. There are growing protests against the Ayatollah, but these sanctions have not deterred the ruling regime in Tehran to pursue its nuclear ambitions,” said Danny Ayalon for the Israeli public radio station. “Our position is getting closers to United States’ position” regarding the Iranian nuclear issue, he added, referring to secret contacts. Danny Ayalon, a member of the Knesset, was the Israeli ambassador to the United States between 2002 and 2006. He frequently writes for Jerusalem Post and Wall Street Journal newspapers.
Ayalon made these remarks while Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has left at night for New York, where to deliver a speech Thursday at the UN General Assembly.
Before leaving, Netanyahu said he wants to act “by all means” to prevent Iran to acquire nuclear weapons.
“I will act by all means so that Iran will not acquire nuclear weapons. History has shown that those who want to wipe us off the map have failed in their mission,” Netanyahu said in a statement.
Netanyahu suggested that he intends to reiterate in his speech to the UN the warning about a nuclear Iran, amid friction with the U.S. ally who refused to impose Tehran the “red lines” required by the prime minister.
Israel, considered the sole holder of nuclear weapons in the region and the Western powers suspect that Iran wants to acquire nuclear weapons under the cover of its civilian nuclear program.
In his speech today at the United Nations, Netanyahu asked again the international community to draw a “clear red line” and stop Iran’s nuclear program. The Israeli Prime Minister claimed that Iran will have by next summer the enriched uranium to make a nuclear bomb, adding that the “security of the world” is at stake.
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