Israel’s prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned that a deal with Iran over a nuclear programme would see Iran "pave its way to the bomb", in a controversial speech to the United States Congress.
Mr Netanyahu said a deal would Iran would “inevitably lead to a nuclear armed Iran whose unbridled aggression will inevitably lead to a nuclear war”, adding that "Iran's regime is as radical as ever, the ideology is deeply rooted in militant Islam... it will always be an enemy of US".
The speech was criticised by US President Barack Obama who said that Mr Netanyahu had offered “nothing new” to progress towards containing Iran’s nuclear programme.
Stating that he had not watched the speech as he had scheduled a conference call with European leaders to discuss the crisis in Ukraine, Mr Obama said, “on the core issue, which is how to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon which would make it far more dangerous, the prime minister did not offer any viable alternatives”.
“We don’t yet have a deal,” added Mr Obama. “But if we are successful, then in fact this will be the best deal possible to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon.”
The Israeli prime minister’s speech was controversially boycotted by many leading Democrats, after he was invited to speak by the Republican Party without informing the White House - breaking normal protocol. In his speech he accused Iran of being “the foremost sponsor of international terrorism” saying it could be “weeks” away from a nuclear weapon.
“That’s why this deal is so bad: it doesn’t block Iran’s path to the bomb; it paves Iran’s path to the bomb,” he added.
See the full text of his speech here.