Netanyahu calls for ‘better deal’ with Tehran

ReutersJerusalemIsraeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said yesterday it was not too late for world powers locked in nuclear negotiations with Iran to demand a “better deal”. He made the comments before meeting in Jerusalem with the speaker of the US House of Representatives, John Boehner, a leading Republican and strong critic of the White House’s policy on Iran. “Now is the time for the international community to insist on a better deal,” Netanyahu said in a televised statement delivered in English. “A better deal would significantly roll back Iran’s nuclear infrastructure. A better deal would link the eventual lifting of the restrictions on Iran’s nuclear programme to a change in Iran’s behaviour,” he said, citing threats to annihilate Israel and accusing Tehran of fomenting regional conflict. Netanyahu said on Tuesday that a framework agreement sought by international negotiators to rein in Iran’s nuclear programme would leave it with the capability to develop atomic weapons within a year. Iran denies trying to develop a nuclear weapons capability. Iran was expected to be high on the agenda of Netanyahu’s talks with Boehner, who is visiting the region with a Republican delegation. Avoiding stepping deeper into controversy with the White House over the issue, neither Boehner nor Netanyahu mentioned the nuclear talks in comments to reporters at the Israeli leader’s office.