ADDS DETAILS THROUGHOUT
By Umar Farooq
WASHINGTON (AA) – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday claimed Iran has a second weapons facility for its nuclear weapons program.
“Iran has another secret facility in Tehran, a secret atomic warehouse for storing massive amounts of equipment and material from Iran’s secret nuclear weapons program,” Netahyahu said before the UN General Assembly in New York.
He called on the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to investigate the site, saying Iran has already taken 33 pounds (15 kilograms) of nuclear material and spread it throughout Tehran to hide it.
Netanyahu called the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), otherwise known as the Iran nuclear deal, a “fundamental lie “.
In May, U.S. President Donald Trump pulled out of the deal saying it was “rotten ” and one sided.
Trump reinstated sanctions against Iran and is expected to impose harsher ones in November.
Netanyahu urged the international community to support the U.S. and Israel in pushing the new sanctions against Iran.
Throughout his speech, Netanyahu also defended its nation-state law, defining the country has the homeland of the Jewish people.
However, he did not speak in depth on the on-going conflict between Israel and Palestine, yet he mentioned that Israel is working towards a “future for the one and only Jewish state.”
Dr. Saeb Erekat, Secretary General of the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO), called Israel “a colonial-apartheid state” in response to Netanyahu’s speech.
“His speech further exposes Israel’s systematic denial of our right to exist, to live in freedom and to celebrate our national identity,” Erekat said in a statement.
