Leaders from around the world have reacted to the deal brokered with Iran in a variety of ways.
Benjamin Netanyahu, Israeli Prime Minister
“What was agreed last night in Genève is not a historic agreement, it is a historic mistake,” Netanyahu said at the start of the weekly cabinet meeting. “Today the world has become a much more dangerous place, because the most dangerous regime in the world has taken a significant step toward attaining the most dangerous weapon in the world.”
Ali Khamenei, Supreme Leader of Iran
“Without a doubt the grace of G-d and the prayers of the Iranian nation were a factor in this success.”
Mohammad Javad Zarik, Foreign Minister of Iran
“Our nation has no trust in the American administration it’s now time for action. This is an opportunity for the west to make efforts to restore trust in the Iranian nation.”
Ariel Cohen, Senior Research Fellow at the The Heritage Foundation
“It is a defeat of Western diplomacy because Iran was on the verge of economic collapse and it was very close to doing what the west would have told it to do, abandoning its plans to enrich uranium, and dismantling the nuclear enrichment infrastructure, period. This is exactly what the US did with North Korea when they did not insist on the dismantlement of their capacity and we ended up with a totalitarian communist regime with nuclear weapons.”
Matt Brooks, Executive Director of the Republican Jewish Coalition
“No matter what the specific provisions of the deal are, President Obama’s diplomacy is giving cheer to Tehran’s rogue regime and causing alarm among our friends in the region…..Congress and the American people need to speak out against this flawed deal.”
Ron Lauder, President of the World Jewish Congress
“Iran must be judged by its actions, not its words and promises, because they are not worth the paper they are written, nothing in the deceptive behavior of Iran and its leaders in recent years should make the world believe that they will honor this agreement.”
Avigdor Liberman, Israeli Foreign Minister
“The whole political spectrum says this is a bad deal and that it is not binding for us, we are now in a new reality that is different from yesterday and it requires us to reevaluate the situation with good judgment, responsibility and determinedly.”
Uzi Landau, Israeli Tourism Minister
“The winds of Munich are blowing from Genève, the government must act immediately to convince the world that the deal signed is a bad one.”
Naftali Bennett, Israeli Economy and Trade Minister
“If a nuclear suitcase exploded in New York or Madrid in five years, it will be because of the agreement signed this morning, Israel will not be bound by an agreement that endangers its existence.”
Uri Ariel, Israeli Construction and Housing Minister
“Today, Iran is celebrating what the whole world will cry about in the future.”
Yuli Edelstein, Israeli Speaker of the Knesset (Parliament)
“Seventy years after the greatest crime in the history of mankind, we have no choice but to hope that history will not repeat itself.”
Moshe Feiglin, Member of Knesset
“The idea that we need to share the responsibility for taking care of Iran with the whole world is disastrous, when Ahmadinejad started threatening to destroy us, the world’s jaw’s dropped and expected an Israeli military reaction. It would have been easier then.”
Rabbi Marvin Hillel, Dean and Founder of the Simon Wiesenthal Center and Rabbi Abraham Cooper, Associate Dean of the Simon Wiesenthal Center
“Iran has taken a page from their North Korean friends whose negotiations with the United States did nothing to stop Pyongyang from breaking out as a nuclear power when it suited them. Tehran has not been forced to destroy a single centrifuge. What will be different six months from now other than the Iranian regime will replenish their coffers with billions of dollars?”
