PM: Immediate sanctions on Iran, even without UN approval
Benjamin Netanyahu continues to urge international community to act decisively against Iran's nuclear program; says restricting export of gas, import of petroleum most important step
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday reiterated the importance of placing immediate sanctions on Iran and said, "We are at a point where the international community needs to decide if it has serious intentions to stop the Iranian nuclear program."
In a speech before the Jewish Agency's board of trustees in Jerusalem, Netanyahu explained that "the biggest threat to humanity is the militant Islamic regime attaining nuclear weapons. These matters do not resolve themselves – the international community must act promptly.
"The Iranian regime is dependant on energy, petroleum and natural gas. The first and most important sanction that must be placed is restricting exports of gas and imports of petroleum from Iran," Netanyahu added, "These sanctions must have teeth; soft and lenient sanctions won't have the necessary affect. They should not be implemented only in order to check them off a list."
Sanctions must have 'teeth' (Photo: Gil Yohanan)
The prime minister noted that if the decision of placing such sanctions is not reached by the UN's Security Council – it must be implemented through other frameworks, but either way must happen immediately.
In recent weeks, the Western powers have intensified their criticism of Iran, after it did not respond to their offer to swap enriched uranium for nuclear medicine fuel, and has even increased its Uranium enrichment to a level of 20%.
Barack Obama declared that his cabinet will finalize the sanctions in the upcoming weeks, but it is still not clear whether he will be able to transfer the decision to the Security Council, due to China's hesitancy to place such sanctions and its veto power in the Security Council.
