PM in Cyprus: Sanctions on Iran not working

Netanyahu says he hopes sanctions will work, but so far they haven't, calls Iran a regime "that breaks all the rules."

PM Netanyahu with Cyprus President Dimitris Christofias 390 (photo credit: Amos Ben Gershom / GPO)
PM Netanyahu with Cyprus President Dimitris Christofias 390
(photo credit: Amos Ben Gershom / GPO)
NICOSIA – President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s tour of Iranian centrifuges Wednesday is an indication that the world’s sanctions against Iran are not working, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said Thursday.
Netanyahu’s comments came during a press conference in Nicosia with Cypriot President Demetris Christofias.
“If anybody needed a reminder that the sanctions have not stopped the nuclear program, it was the guided tour by Iran’s president in the centrifuge hall yesterday,” he said. “I hope they work, but so far they have not.”
Netanyahu characterized Iran as a regime that “breaks all the rules” and was formed through the taking of the US Embassy in Tehran. Iran has continued to show no respect for international rules, he added, with the most recent example being the attack on foreign diplomats and their wives.
“They send children into mine fields, they have suicide bombers, they send tens of thousands of rockets into our cities and towns,” Netanyahu said. “Such a regime should obviously not have an atomic bomb, and I believe that the international community is becoming aware by the day of what it means for Iran [to have nuclear potential],” he said.
Asked whether the US should fear an Israeli attack on Iran, Netanyahu said that Israel, the US and the rest of the world should be concerned about Iran’s pursuit of nuclear weapons.
Click here for full Jpost coverage of the Iranian threat
Click here for full Jpost coverage of the Iranian threat