Netanyahu says Iran is 'fooling' all

Correspondent | Saturday October 5, 2013 17:19

Delivering a trenchant address at the UN General Assembly in New York, the Israeli prime minister rounded on President Hassan Rouhani of Iran.

The Islamic republic's new leader has ostensibly offered 'peace and friendship' to the US and the prospect of settling the confrontation over Iran's nuclear ambitions.

But Netanyahu recalled how North Korea agreed in 2005 to freeze its nuclear programme. 'A year later, North Korea exploded its first nuclear weapons device,' he said. 'Yet as dangerous as a nuclear-armed North Korea is, it pales in comparison to the danger posed by a nuclear-armed Iran.'

An Iran with nuclear weapons would turn the 'most unstable part of the planet into a nuclear tinderbox' by triggering a regional arms race, predicted Netanyahu.

'A nuclear-armed Iran would not be another North Korea. It would be another 50 North Koreas.' (The Daily Telegraph)