Netanyahu’s Anti-Iran EU Trip
by Stephen Lendman (stephenlendman.org – Home – Stephen Lendman)
He’s in Berlin Monday meeting with Angela Merkel – followed by talks with Emmanuel Macron in Paris and Theresa May in London.
He seeks support for unacceptably amending the Iran nuclear deal, an international treaty, unanimously adopted by Security Council Resolution 2231, making it binding international law – Trump’s pullout a flagrant breach.
Also on Netanyahu’s mind is the presence of Iranian military advisors in Syria – involved in aiding Damascus combat US/Israeli-supported terrorists.
Netanyahu wants an Iranian presence in Syria entirely eliminated. As long as Assad wants Iranian military advisors remaining, they’re not leaving – legally and morally entitled to stay.
Netanyahu and other Israeli officials lied, claiming Iranian combat troops are involved – on Saturday, refuted by Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Muallem, emphatically saying there are none, military advisors only.
On Sunday, before his Monday departure for Berlin, Netanyahu said his trip is all about Iran – a nation threatening no one.
America and Israel are the regions’s leading threats, partnering in multiple imperial wars, along with weeks of devastating violence in Gaza, compounded by terror-bombing.
Addressing his war cabinet on Sunday, Netanyahu repeated his Big Lie, falsely claiming Islamic Republic “nuclear aspirations and…expansion in the Middle East” – the latter Israel’s longstanding aim.
It’s the region’s only nuclear armed and dangerous country. Iran’s nuclear program is peaceful with no military component. Claims otherwise are Big Lies.
Britain, France and Germany are committed to preserving the JCPOA. Whether they intend challenging Trump’s pullout by rejecting enforcement of reimposed US nuclear-related sanctions is another matter entirely.
Words without firm actions are meaningless. Russia and China are committed to normalized relations with Iran. It’s unclear where Europe stands until policy measures unfold.
Last week, EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini said “(t)here is no alternative” to the JCPOA. An unnamed French official said its government intends working with the existing deal.
Netanyahu is unlikely to get support for his hostile agenda toward Iran’s legitimate nuclear program. EU leaders perhaps will be more receptive about his opposition to the presence of Iranian military advisors in Syria.
Their nations are allied with Washington and Israel, hostile to world peace and stability, waging naked aggression on the Syrian Arab Republic for regime change.
Separately, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif denounced “US law-breaking behavior, bullying, and disregard for the rule of law” – pulling out of the JCPOA the latest example.
He called on the world community to challenge unacceptable US behavior, warning of dangerous consequences otherwise.
The same goes for Israel, a regional menace along with America.
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