Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has welcomed new sanctions imposed by the Trump administration on Iran, saying its continued nuclear weapons program posed to a threat to the world.
Speaking in London as he met British Prime Minister Theresa May, Netanyahu said Iran sought to “conquer the Middle East” and had to be reined in.
He called for “responsible nations” to follow the lead of the US, which last week imposed fresh sanctions in response to a ballistic missile test carried out by Iran.
Iran “seeks to conquer the Middle East, it threatens Europe, it threatens the West, it threatens the world. And it offers provocation after provocation,” Netanyahu said.
Addressing May, Netanyahu added: “That’s why I welcome President Trump’s insistence on new sanctions against Iran. I think other nations should follow suit, certainly responsible nations, and I’d like to talk to you about how we can ensure Iran’s aggression does not go unanswered.”
Iran denies the January 29 test violated a UN resolution, saying that it had a right to carry out such exercises in defense of its country.
Netanyahu has been staunchly opposed to a nuclear deal with Iran, brokered by the Obama administration, that saw sanctions on the country relaxed in exchange for a dramatic downsizing of Iran’s nuclear program. The Israeli leader has called the accord “weak.”
West Bank settlements
May is expected to tell Netanyahu that a plan to build new settlements in the occupied West Bank undermines the Middle East peace process.
“I would expect the Prime Minister to set out the government’s position that we think the continued increase in settlement activity undermines trust,” a spokeswoman for May told reporters last week, according to the Press Association.
“Our focus is on how we make a two-state solution, with an Israel that is safe from terrorism and a Palestinian state that is viable and sovereign, work,” she said, adding that the government understood the Israelis’ position and “their right to live free from the threat of terrorism.”
Israel plans to build more than 5,000 new homes in the West Bank, in Israel’s first major construction plans in 20 years.
Netanyahu’s meeting with May comes just hours before Israel’s parliament looks set to vote on a bill to retroactively legalize thousands of settler homes in the West Bank.
The settlement program is illegal under international law, but Israel disputes that finding and insists the status of the West Bank is more ambiguous than international law allows.
Also on the agenda for the meeting is the Syrian conflict, cybersecurity and trade.
