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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said a diplomatic deal was not possible with the “savages” who rule Iran, while praising U.S. President Donald Trump’s new campaign of economic pressure on Tehran.
According to a statement from the Prime Minister’s Office, Netanyahu assessed the current situation with Iran during a speech late Tuesday at an event in Jerusalem for Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank.
Referring to his July 28 meeting with Trump at the White House, Netanyahu said the two leaders had discussed three possible courses on Iran.
“The first possibility is, of course, that you make an agreement,” Netanyahu said. “A good agreement—we have no objection to that.”
“I have doubts about whether an agreement can be made with that group there, those ‘savages’; I am telling you that it is impossible to make an agreement with them,” he added.
Netanyahu said the second possibility was a military option.
“We will protect ourselves; we will not allow Iran to attack us,” he said. “If they attack us, they will receive a blow they cannot even imagine.”
Netanyahu said the third possibility was “tightening the siege” on Iran, praising Trump’s economic sanctions against Tehran.
He said Trump had chosen to target not only Iran itself but also those assisting what he called a “terrible dictatorship.”
“This is very important,” Netanyahu said.
Netanyahu said he had raised the “third option” with Trump and praised the U.S. president for pursuing it in “a very, very, very strong way.”
Netanyahu has long been skeptical of diplomacy with Iran and openly campaigned against the 2015 nuclear deal brokered under then-U.S. President Barack Obama.
However, he has been publicly careful not to criticize Trump while the U.S. president sought a negotiated settlement with Tehran.
Trump joined Netanyahu in a joint U.S.-Israeli attack on Iran in late February but agreed to a ceasefire in April amid widespread U.S. public opposition to the war, which had sent oil prices sharply higher.
On Monday, Trump declared an “economic D-Day” aimed at intensifying pressure on Iran’s economy, which has already endured years of sanctions.
Trump has shown reluctance to resume a full-scale war even as he grows frustrated that Tehran has not accepted his demands.
The remarks come against the backdrop of the conflict between Iran and the United States, which began Feb. 28 with U.S. and Israeli military strikes on Iran.
The conflict later expanded across the region as Tehran retaliated against U.S. military positions.
The hostilities drew in several regional fronts and disrupted maritime traffic, while Iran and the United States eventually signed a memorandum of understanding on June 18 through Qatari and Pakistani mediation.
The memorandum was aimed at ending the fighting and setting the stage for negotiations.
Tehran has since accused Washington of failing to fully implement the memorandum, while Qatar and Pakistan have continued diplomatic efforts between the two sides.
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