Netanyahu rips Biden over push to revive Iran nuclear deal: Middle East will become 'nuclear powder keg'
The former Israeli prime minister warned a revived Iran nuclear deal is the 'height of folly'
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Former Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Natanyahu is sounding the alarm on the Biden administration's effort to re-broker the Iran nuclear deal, warning it will create a "nuclear powder keg" out of the Middle East.
The former prime minister issued a stark warning on the dangerous implications of restarting the deal, and how doing so would impact nuclear proliferation in the Middle East and beyond.
"What will happen is that other countries in the Middle East will pursue nuclear weapons of their own," Netanyahu warned on "Fox & Friends" on Wednesday. "So this deal, which is supposed to stop nuclear weapon weapons in the Middle East and the proliferation of weapons of mass death in this neighborhood and beyond, it will actually cause the proliferation of nuclear weapons, and the Middle East will be crisscrossed by nuclear tripwires. It will make the Middle East a powder keg, a nuclear powder keg."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"This is madness," he continued. "This is the height of folly. This should not be done."
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FILE - In this Jan. 13, 2015, file photo released by the Iranian President's Office, President Hassan Rouhani visits the Bushehr nuclear power plant just outside of Bushehr, Iran. (AP Photo/Iranian Presidency Office, Mohammad Berno, File)
A report indicated earlier this week that the Biden administration is closer to accepting a deal amid ongoing negotiations, since Iran has dropped concessions that previously served as roadblocks.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Some of those now-dropped demands reportedly concern the terror designation of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and investigations by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
"I think this is a horrible deal, a dangerous deal that will pave Iran's path with gold, a golden paved highway to a nuclear arsenal," Netanyahu said. "If Iran has nuclear weapons, they don't merely threaten my country, Israel or the entire Middle East and America's allies. They threaten you directly because simultaneously with developing nuclear weapons, they're developing the means to deliver them across continents."
"So you could have an Iran governed by these fanatic ayatollahs who will hold every American city hostage to nuclear weapons," he continued. "I think this is a threat to the peace of the world, and that's what this horrible deal facilitates. It's even worse than the first one."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The Biden administration has faced criticism for pushing to revive the nuclear deal with Iran, even after assassination plots targeting Trump administration officials have been unveiled in recent weeks.
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Critics worry restarting the deal will only fuel Iran's terror regime and backfire both regionally and internationally.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}National Security Council coordinator John Kirby told Fox News Tuesday that Biden "understands" the concerns of Israel and neighboring countries but remains determined to rejoin the JCPOA and use diplomacy as a means to prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear capabilities.