Netanyahu: Iran nuclear deal ‘based on a lie’

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday continued to lobby for the U.S. to withdraw from the Iran nuclear deal, arguing that it was “based on a lie.”

“If you do nothing to this deal, if you keep it as is, you will end up with Iran with a nuclear arsenal in a very short time,” Netanyahu said.

CNN reported that Netanyahu met with reporters at his office and defended his presentation late last month, in which he claimed that Iran “lied” and continued its nuclear weapons program after 2009.

{mosads}His office portrayed the speech as a “significant development,” and further reason for the U.S. to withdraw from the Iran nuclear agreement. 

However, the International Atomic Energy Agency said in 2011 that it had credible evidence showing Iran was doing nuclear weapons work under a structured program through 2003 and that work may have continued past that.

Netanyahu on Sunday argued that those who argue his presentation did not contain new information “did not see the material.”

His complaints come ahead of President Trump’s May 12 deadline for European allies to agree to address the flaws he sees in the deal.

The 2015 agreement between Iran and the United States, China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom, Germany and the European Union provided Tehran billions in sanctions relief in exchange for curbing its nuclear program.

Trump has been a staunch critic of the pact, which he has dubbed the “worst ever.”