Netanyahu To Ask Obama To Not Lift Iran Sanctions, Says Official
Former Secretary of State John Kerry and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Image by haaretz
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is to meet today with U.S. President Barack Obama at the White House, is expected to ask at the meeting that international sanctions on Iran not be lifted.
A senior Israeli official, who is familiar with the details of preparations for the meeting, said that while previous meetings between Netanyahu and Obama discussed a military option against Iran’s nuclear facilities, this time, with the diplomatic track gaining momentum, the conversation will focus on keeping up the pressure on the Iranian regime.
Netanyahu believes that the Western powers should leave in place the international sanctions, especially the European Union’s oil embargo and the sanctions on Iranian banks, which have devastated the Iranian economy. Netanyahu is expected to tell Obama that until Iran meets all the conditions – a halt to uranium enrichment, removal of all the enriched material from the country, closure of the reactor at Fordo and stoppage of work at the heavy water reactor in Arak – the sanctions should not be lifted and should even be intensified.
Before departing Israel, Netanyahu said he would present the truth to the United Nations amid a torrent of sweet-talking.
“I will present our rights as a nation, our determination to defend ourselves and our hopes for peace. I will speak the truth. Facts must be stated in the face of the sweet talk and the blitz of smiles,”he said.
Read more at Haaretz.com.
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning journalism this Passover.
In this age of misinformation, our work is needed like never before. We report on the news that matters most to American Jews, driven by truth, not ideology.
At a time when newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall. That means for the first time in our 126-year history, Forward journalism is free to everyone, everywhere. With an ongoing war, rising antisemitism, and a flood of disinformation that may affect the upcoming election, we believe that free and open access to Jewish journalism is imperative.
Readers like you make it all possible. Right now, we’re in the middle of our Passover Pledge Drive and we need 500 people to step up and make a gift to sustain our trustworthy, independent journalism.
Make a gift of any size and become a Forward member today. You’ll support our mission to tell the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
Our Goal: 500 gifts during our Passover Pledge Drive!
