Netanyahu reiterates opposition to Biden reentering Iran nuclear deal

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu doubles down on his position that US President-elect Joe Biden’s plan to reenter the Iran nuclear deal would be misguided.

“It’s a mistake to go back to the JCPOA. You shouldn’t go back to that flawed agreement,” he says in a televised interview with the DC-based Hudson Institute’s Michael Doran.

Biden campaigned on returning to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action signed in 2015 when he was vice president and told the New York Times yesterday that he would do so only if Tehran went back to strict compliance with the agreement first, while also promising to take steps to curb the influence of the Islamic Republic’s regional proxies.

Netanyahu says the deal is what gave Iran the funds to establish itself in Syria and Iraq, as well as fund proxies around the region.

Asked by Doran he was worried whether the US might leave the Middle East, the premier responds, “Yes of course. I think it would be a great misfortune for us but also for the United States. For us and our newfound Arab allies. We have peace breaking out now and I think the United States has a vested interest to expand that peace.”

It was unclear what US pullout Doran was referring to, but the interview comes as US President Donald Trump is withdrawing American troops from Iraq and Afghanistan by mid-January.

— Jacob Magid