Netanyahu: North Korea Proves Iran Will Continue Nuclear Program

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Monday that North Korea’s nuclear test shows that sanctions will not stop Iran’s nuclear program. Netanyahu was speaking to a gathering of international Jewish leaders in Jerusalem.

North Korea conducted a nuclear test last Tuesday. The rogue state is already under heavy sanctions and under threat of further punishment from the international community. The West has also imposed stiff sanctions on Iran with no result.

Prime Minister Netanyahu said:

Have sanctions, tough sanctions, stopped North Korea? No. And the fact that they produced a nuclear explosion reverberates everywhere in the Middle East, and especially in Iran. They say, Where is the world, where is the international community, where is the tough response? It’s a question that everybody deserves to ask. Sanctions alone will not stop the nuclear program of Iran. They have to be coupled with a robust, credible military threat. If they are not, there is no chance to stop them; if they’re coupled with that military threat, there is a chance to stop it, and if it doesn’t stop it that way, then it will have to be stopped another way. But the world has to decide whether it allows this terror regime that breaks all norms to have access to atomic bombs.

Iran denies that it is seeking nuclear weapons. It insists that it is only enriching uranium for energy and medical purposes. But Israel and the West see Iran’s nuclear program as an imminent military threat. Netanyahu has hinted that Israel may strike against Iran’s nuclear sites if the international community fails to stop the radical Islamist state.

Netanyahu says the Iran issue will top his agenda when U.S. President Barack Obama visits Israel in March. He added that the visit will provide the opportunity to get back to negotiations—“direct, unimpeded negotiations without preconditions between Israel and the Palestinians.”

But the White House has moved quickly to play down expectations. It says the primary goal of the president’s visit is to repair the strained relationship with Netanyahu. Mr. Obama does not plan to present a new diplomatic initiative.

Negotiations will not stop Iran. It will keep pursuing its nuclear ambitions until it is stopped by force. America lacks the will to stop Iran, and Israel is running out of options. To find out who will ultimately stop the Islamic Republic, read our article, “Iran Is King.”