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Iran Calls Israeli Leader a Liar Ahead of U.N. Speech Israeli Leader Excoriates New President of Iran
(35 minutes later)
Iranian diplomats sought to undermine the credibility of Israel’s prime minister on Tuesday in advance of his annual United Nations address, calling him a persistent liar and warning President Obama not to allow the Israelis to subvert the positive spirit cultivated by Iran’s new president in his visit to the United Nations last week. UNITED NATIONS — Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel sought to shred the credibility of Iran’s new president on Tuesday, using his annual speech at the United Nations to cast him as a beguiling figure who used soothing words and charm to mask intentions to build nuclear weapons.
The remarks were delivered by Iran’s foreign minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif, and his spokeswoman, Marzieh Afkham, in Iran state news media. They followed by a day a visit by the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, with Mr. Obama at the White House, where both presented a public display of unity regarding Iran’s disputed nuclear energy program. Rather than ease the sanctions on Iran, as the Iranians want, Mr. Netanyahu told Mr. Obama they should be tightened. In remarks interspersed with sarcasm about the new president, Hassan Rouhani, who visited the United Nations last week and said that Tehran wanted to reach a peaceful resolution of its protracted nuclear dispute, Mr. Netanyahu declared that Mr. Rouhani was no different from any other president of Iran since the 1979 Islamic revolution.
Mr. Netanyahu, who has described President Hassan Rouhani of Iran as a “wolf in sheep’s clothing” over his assertions that Iran wants peaceful nuclear development, was scheduled to speak later Tuesday at the annual United Nations General Assembly. “They’ve all served that same unforgiving creed, that same unforgiving regime,” said Mr. Netanyahu, who regards Iran as Israel’s most potent enemy and its development of a nuclear weapon as an “existential threat.” He said “President Rouhani, like the presidents who came before him, is a loyal servant of the regime.”
Concerned that Iran’s president might have beguiled the Americans and other Westerners with diplomatic charm but no substance in his visit to the United Nations last week — punctuated by precedent-setting phone telephone call from Mr. Obama to Mr. Rouhani as he was leaving for the airport — the Israeli government had said Mr. Netanyahu would equate Iran’s behavior with that of North Korea’s deceptive nuclear practices in his speech. Mr. Netanyahu dismissed any thought of allowing Iran to enrich uranium to even a low level, insisting that the only way to assure it would never build a nuclear weapon was a complete dismantlement of its capability to enrich nuclear fuel. He exhorted the West to intensify economic sanctions on Iran instead of easing them, as Mr. Rouhani has demanded.
Hours before Mr. Netanyahu got to the General Assembly podium, however, Mr. Zarif carried out a pre-emptive strike of sorts, castigating the Israeli leader in an interview carried by Iranian state television. “I wish I could believe Rouhani, but I don’t,” Mr. Netanyahu told the General Assembly, where Iran’s seats were vacant. “Because facts are stubborn things.”
“Over the past 22 years, the regime, Israel, has been saying Iran will have nuclear arms in six months,” Mr. Zarif said. “The continuation of this game, in fact, is based on lying, deception, incitement and harassment.” He said the international response to Iran’s entreaties for sanctions relief should be “distrust, dismantle and verify.”
Hours before Mr. Netanyahu spoke, Iranian diplomats sought to make a pre-emptive strike of their own, calling him a persistent liar and warning President Obama not to allow the Israelis to subvert the positive spirit cultivated by Mr. Rouhani in his visit to the United Nations.
The remarks were delivered by Iran’s foreign minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif, and his spokeswoman, Marzieh Afkham, in Iranian state news media. They followed by a day a visit by Mr. Netanyahu with Mr. Obama at the White House, where both presented a public display of unity regarding Iran’s disputed nuclear energy program.
“Over the past 22 years, the regime, Israel, has been saying Iran will have nuclear arms in six months,” Mr. Zarif said in an interview on state television. “The continuation of this game, in fact, is based on lying, deception, incitement and harassment.”
He added: “We have seen nothing from Netanyahu but lies and actions to deceive and scare, and international public opinion will not let these lies go unanswered.” Mr. Netanyahu, he said, “was the most isolated man at the U.N.”He added: “We have seen nothing from Netanyahu but lies and actions to deceive and scare, and international public opinion will not let these lies go unanswered.” Mr. Netanyahu, he said, “was the most isolated man at the U.N.”
Earlier on his Twitter account, Mr. Zarif alluded to the Obama-Netanyahu meeting on Monday in a message that read: “President Obama needs consistency to promote mutual confidence. Flip-flop destroys trust and undermines US credibility.”Earlier on his Twitter account, Mr. Zarif alluded to the Obama-Netanyahu meeting on Monday in a message that read: “President Obama needs consistency to promote mutual confidence. Flip-flop destroys trust and undermines US credibility.”
In Tehran, Mr. Zarif’s spokeswoman, Ms. Afkham, was quoted by Iranian news agencies as saying, “The pressure coming from the Zionist regime is down to its isolation and its anger that the policy of the Iranian government has been well received.” And Mr. Zarif’s spokeswoman, Ms. Afkham, was quoted by Iranian news agencies as saying, “The pressure coming from the Zionist regime is down to its isolation and its anger that the policy of the Iranian government has been well received.”