Netanyahu’s remarks came as US and Iran held talks in Pakistan on Saturday, which later ended on an inconclusive note on Sunday.
New Delhi:
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the campaign against Iran had succeeded in “crushing” the Islamic republic’s nuclear and ballistic missile programmes, adding that they are “strangling them”.
“The campaign is not over yet, but it is already clear tjhat we have historic achievements. Iran tried to encircle us with a stranglehold – Hamas in Gaza, Hezbollah in Lebanon, the Assad regime in Syria, the militias in Iraq, the Houthis in Yemen. Iran itself wanted to strangle us, but we are strangling them. They threatened us with annihilation and they are now fighting to survive,” he said, speaking of the war that began on February 28 with US-Israeli strikes on Iran.
Netanyahu’s remarks came as US and Iran held talks in Pakistan on Saturday, which later ended on an inconclusive note on Sunday.
On Sunday morning, US Vice President JD Vance said no progress was made despite 21 hours of talks between the two sides. He said the news is bad, but worse for Iran than the US. Vance said the US entered the talks in good faith and was flexible, but could not secure a clear and affirmative commitment from Iran that it would not seek or develop nuclear weapons in the future, which he described as the core US demand.
Tehran blamed the failure of talks on US’ “unreasonable” demands. Iranian state broadcaster IRIB said the Iranian delegation put forward multiple initiatives but progress was blocked by the US side, forcing the talks to end without results.
Hosting the talks that came as a delicate ceasefire remained in place in the Gulf region, Pakistan insisted that both sides must uphold the ceasefire agreement. Foreign minister Ishaq Dar said, “Pakistan has been and will continue to play its role to facilitate engagement and dialogue between the Islamic Republic of Iran and the United States of America in the days to come.”
US President Donald Trump said US had won “militarily”, with Iran’s forces obliterated. He also warned that China’s support for Iran in the war would pose problems for Beijing.
The development comes even as the US claims its two warships entered the criticial Strait of Hormuz to clear mines laid by Iran Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), a charge that Iran vehemently denied. Iran reiterated that any military ships entering the passage will be “death with severely”.
