Report: Netanyahu to compare Iran and North Korean nuclear 'ploys' in UN speech

Official involved in writing speech gives details to NYT.

By JPOST.COM STAFF
Netanyahu bomb picture 370 (photo credit: REUTERS/Lucas Jackson)
Netanyahu bomb picture 370
(photo credit: REUTERS/Lucas Jackson)
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu will use his speech at the United Nations General Assembly next week to compare Iran's current diplomatic efforts on its nuclear program to North Korea's diplomatic maneuvering prior to its testing of an atomic bomb, The New York Times reported on Sunday, quoting an Israeli official.
The Israeli official was involved in drafting Netanyahu's speech according to the report. The sentiment of the reported speech echoes the suspicion towards Iran's intentions expressed by Netanyahu's office last week, that Iranian President Hassan Rouhani's pledge that Iran would never develop a nuclear weapon amounted to "fraudulent words" that should fool no one.
The Israeli official told the Times Netanyahu plans to review the history of North Korea's negotiations, emphasizing a period of diplomacy in 2005 when the North Koreans agreed to cease its nuclear weapons program in exchange for economic and other incentives, an agreement that was followed shortly after in the following year by North Korea's testing of a nuclear weapon.
According to the official, Netanyahu will demand at the UN that the Islamic Republic: cease all enrichment of Uranium and agree to the removal of all enriched uranium from its territory; dismantle its nuclear facility in Qum and its newest generation of centrifuges at Natanz; and stop building the heavy water reactor at Arak.
Rouhani said Sunday that any deal with the West would have to recognize Iran's right to enrich uranium, as a record number of Iranian missiles capable of striking Israel were displayed at a military parade.
"We're going to make judgments based on the actions of the Iranian government, not simply their words," White House deputy national security adviser Ben Rhodes told reporters on Friday, previewing the speech US President Barack Obama will deliver on Tuesday before the UN General Assembly just hours before Rouhani takes to the world stage. Reuters contributed to this report.