PM to cabinet: Israel not opposed to diplomacy with Iran

Netanyahu tells cabinet that any diplomacy with Iran must lead to dismantling of its uranium enrichment capabilities.

By HERB KEINON
netanyahu at cabinet meeting gestures 150 (photo credit: Marc Israel Sellem/The Jerusalem Post)
netanyahu at cabinet meeting gestures 150
(photo credit: Marc Israel Sellem/The Jerusalem Post)
Israel is not against diplomacy with Iran, but rather wants to ensure that negotiations with Iran will lead it to a halt of uranium enrichment, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu told the cabinet Sunday.
Netanyahu, in his first  meeting with his cabinet since meting US President Barack Obama in Washington and saying a day later at the UN General Assembly last week that Israel would "stand alone" against Iran if need be, said he had a long, in-depth conversation with Obama about Iran and that they agree to the need to halt Iran's uranium enrichment.
"Iran claims that it wants this capability for nuclear energy for peaceful needs," he said. "Seventeen countries in the world produce nuclear energy for peaceful needs without one centrifuge or enriching uranium." Netanyahu said that enriching uranium is only needed to create fissile material needed for a nuclear bomb.
"Those who do not want fissile material and a nuclear bomb are not stubborn about the need for uranium enrichment," he said. "Iran must not have this capability, that is the most important point."
Netanyahu, who only recently began publicly saying that the sanctions on Iran were making a serious dent, said that the sanctions were "working," and were "just a moment before achieving their goal." He said that the sanctions must not be removed before Iran dismantles its enrichment capabilities.