The prime ministers of Japan and Israel compared notes Monday about living near countries with suspected illicit nuclear weapons programs, with Benjamin Netanyahu calling on the international community to keep pressure on Iran.
In a joint statement released with his Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe, the two men also “expressed their strong hope for the early resolution of various issues of concerns regarding North Korea, including its nuclear development.”
Speaking at a joint news conference after their meeting, Netanyahu, on the second day of a five-day trip to Japan, said Abe had told him in no uncertain terms that Japan was facing a very real threat from North Korea, which observers say is preparing for a fourth nuclear test.
“The same words — ‘clear and present danger’ — certainly apply to the Iranian nuclear program as well,” he said.
“Like North Korea before it, Iran wants to keep its military capabilities, military nuclear capabilities while easing the sanctions that are applied to it.
“We cannot let the ayatollahs win,” Netanyahu said.
Tehran insists its nuclear program is intended only to generate power for civilian purposes.
Iran and the five permanent members of the UN Security Council plus Germany will begin talks in Vienna on Tuesday when they start drafting the text of a comprehensive and potentially historic deal.
An accord would de-fang Iran’s atomic program with a drastic reduction in scale. In return, all UN Security Council sanctions and additional unilateral sanctions targeting Iran’s lifeblood oil exports would be lifted.
Japan, which depends heavily on Middle Eastern oil, has maintained friendly relations with Iran through its years of ostracism by the West.
Also on Monday, in an official meeting in Oslo between President Shimon Peres and Norway’s King Harald V, Peres called for sanctions against the Islamic Republic to continue.
“The diplomatic efforts and economic sanction on Iran from the international community send a signal, but the sanctions and heavy pressure on Iran must continue until the threat is removed,” he said.
Israel resolutely backs efforts to prevent Iran from acquiring a weapon, and becoming a “center of global terrorism,” much as the rest of the world, he added.
Peres received a royal welcome in Oslo, with hundreds of schoolchildren and a military procession set to greet him. The church bells played the iconic “Jerusalem of Gold” song in honor of his visit.
Credit to The Times of Israel
Read more: Netanyahu in Japan warns Iran will become next N. Korea | The Times of Israel http://www.timesofisrael.com/netanyahu-in-japan-warns-iran-will-become-next-n-korea/#ixzz31Vfo9amZ
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