Hammond blasts Israel over Iran: ‘No deal would have been enough for Bibi’
British Foreign Secretary Phillip Hammond has blasted Israel for being against any deal with Iran, in the wake the nuclear deal struck on Tuesday.
Addressing parliament today, he answered a question about Israeli concerns, saying: “The question you have to ask yourself is what kind of a deal would have been welcomed in Tel Aviv. The answer of course is that Israel doesn’t want any deal with Iran.”
He added that “no agreement with Iran would have been enough for Netanyahu… Israel wants a permanent state of stand-off and I don’t believe that’s in the interests of the region. I don’t believe it’s in our interest.”
His comments were in-line with other world leaders, with German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier saying: “Israel should also take a closer look at it and not criticise it in a very coarse way.”
During and after last year’s war in Gaza, Hammond repeatedly refused to be drawn on whether the IDF response was proportionate, but warned that Israel was undermining its support in the West, without being specific.
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