Newly sworn-in Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett on Sunday warned world powers against negotiating a nuclear agreement with Iran after the election of a new president, Ebrahim Raisi, saying they should “wake up” before pursuing a deal.
During his first televised cabinet meeting, Bennett said Raisi would bring about a “regime of brutal hangmen,” Reuters reports. Raisi is under U.S. sanctions for human rights abuses and Bennett claimed his electoral victory was the result of influence from Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, instead of a popular vote.
Reuters notes that less than half of eligible voters in Iran voted in the past elections.
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“Raisi’s election is, I would say, the last chance for world powers to wake up before returning to the nuclear agreement, and understand who they are doing business with,” Bennett said.
“A regime of brutal hangmen must never be allowed to have weapons of mass-destruction,” he added. “Israel’s position will not change on this.”
U.S. sanctions against Raisi were issued shortly after he was appointed to be judiciary chief in 2019 for allegedly playing a role in the execution of thousands of political prisoners in 1988 as well as the suppression of unrest in 2009, CNBC notes. Neither Iran or Raisi have ever publicly acknowledged the executions.
Bennett’s predecessor, Benjamin NetanyahuBenjamin (Bibi) NetanyahuMORE, had also urged world powers against pursuing a nuclear deal with Iran saying he was willing to risk inducing tensions with the U.S. in order to block what he called an “existential threat” to Israel.
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