Departing for his meeting with U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in Lisbon, the Israeli prime minister listed Jordan Valley annexation and the “tyrants in Tehran” as key agenda items.
By TPS
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday said the protests across the Middle East are causing Iran’s regime to falter and called for increased international pressure on Tehran, before departing for Lisbon where he will meet with US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.
“We’re seeing the Iranian empire totter. We see demonstrations in Tehran, demonstrations in Baghdad, demonstrations in Beirut,” Netanyahu said, adding that “it’s important to increase pressure against Iranian aggression.”
Netanyahu commended President Donald Trump for placing “tremendous pressures and sanctions on Iran,” and condemned other countries for easing pressure on the Ayatollahs regime.
The prime minister reiterated his condemnation of six European countries after they announced they would join The Instrument in Support of Trade Exchanges (INSTEX), a financial mechanism designed to allow Iran to bypass US sanctions.
“I said, and I repeat it here today, they should be ashamed of themselves. While people are risking their lives and dying on the streets of Tehran, they are giving sustenance and support to this tyrannical regime. The tyrants of Tehran should not be supported now. They should be pressured,” he said.
Netanyahu aimed his remarks at Belgium, Denmark, Finland, the Netherlands, Norway, and Sweden, who announced Friday they were joining INSTEX to save the nuclear deal with Iran.
INSTEX is a French, German and United Kingdom-founded apparatus established in January 2019 to facilitate non-USD transactions and non-SWIFT financial dealings to avoid breaking US sanctions on the Islamic Republic.
Netanyahu said his meeting with Pompeo will focus primarily on “Iran, and on two additional issues: the defensive alliance with the US that I intend to advance, and a future American recognition of Israel applying sovereignty over the Jordan Valley.”
The Israeli premier will also meet with Portuguese Prime Minister Antonio Costa and Foreign Minister Augusto Santos Silva.