Netanyahu Warns Biden: Entering Iran Deal Would be Nuclear ‘Nightmare’, Spark Arms Race

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, left, and then US Vice-President Joe Biden in 2016. (AP Photo/Michel Euler) AP Photo/Michel Euler

Netanyahu warns that U.S. reentering the Iran nuclear deal would lead to ‘nightmare’ of other states seeking nuclear weapons.

By Yakir Benzion, United With Israel

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned the incoming Biden Administration last week that the U.S. blindly re-entering the Iran nuclear deal could end up sparking a Middle East arms race where many countries threatened by Iran would also try to obtain nuclear weapons.

Senior Democrats have indicated that the president-elect Joe Biden will seek to get the United States back into the Iran nuclear deal, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action JCPOA) that was initiated by the Obama Administration when Biden was vice-president.

That plan only slowed down Iran’s nuclear program for a maximum 15-year span, after which the deal expires and allows Iran to unlimited uranium enrichment to produce weapons grade material.

“If we just go back to the JCPOA, what will happen and may already be happening is that many other countries in the Middle East will rush to arm themselves with nuclear weapons. That is a nightmare and that is folly. It should not happen,” Netanyahu said.

“I want to thank President Trump and all of you in the administration for all you have done and are doing for peace. You’ve made a real difference, achieving one breakthrough after another, bringing the UAE, Bahrain, Morocco and Sudan into the circle of peace. I have no doubt that more Arab and Muslim countries will follow.”

Netanyahu also thank US Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin for his efforts in the Treasury to apply tough economic sanctions on Iran, a country with one of the world’s worst records on human rights that is seen as a major sponsor of terrorism.

“I also want to commend the maximum pressure campaign on Iran. Under your leadership, the U.S. Treasury has played a crucial role in applying and enforcing sanctions on the Iranian regime” said Netanyahu.

“It must be continued to prevent Iran from continuing its campaign of aggression and terror throughout the region and to prevent Iran from rushing to a nuclear arsenal.”