Reactions to Donald Trump quitting the Iran Deal – Australia “disappointed”
Leaders in Israel, Australia and New Zealand have been quick to comment on Donald Trump’s decision to quit the Iran Deal.
President Donald Trump and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the Israel Museum in Jerusalem on May 23, 2017.
Photo: U.S. Embassy Tel Aviv.
Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said:”Israel fully supports President Trump’s bold decision today to reject the disastrous nuclear deal with the terrorist regime in Tehran. Israel has opposed the nuclear deal from the start because we said that rather than blocking Iran’s path to a bomb, the deal actually paved Iran’s path to an entire arsenal of nuclear bombs, and this within a few years’ time. The removal of sanctions under the deal has already produced disastrous results. The deal didn’t push war further away, it actually brought it closer. The deal didn’t reduce Iran’s aggression, it dramatically increased it, and we see this across the entire Middle East. Since the deal, we’ve seen Iran’s aggression grow every day- in Iraq, in Lebanon, in Yemen, in Gaza, and most of all, in Syria, where Iran is trying to establish military bases from which to attack Israel.
Despite the deal, the terrorist regime in Tehran is developing a ballistic missiles capability, ballistic missiles to carry nuclear warheads far and wide, to many parts of the world.
And as we exposed last week, since the deal, Iran intensified its efforts to hide its secret nuclear weapons program.
So if you leave all of this unchanged, all this combined is a recipe for disaster, a disaster for our region, a disaster for the peace of the world.
This is why Israel thinks that President Trump did an historic move and this is why Israel thanks President Trump for his courageous leadership, his commitment to confront the terrorist regime in Tehran and his commitment to ensure that Iran never gets nuclear weapons, not today, not in a decade, not ever.”
President Reuven Rivlin states: “The decision made by the President of the United States constitutes an important and significant step in ensuring the security of the State of Israel, the security of the region and the security of the entire free world.
Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull and President Reuven Rivlin Photo: Mark Neiman
Alongside the nuclear threat we do not, for a moment, forget the arms race Iran is leading on our borders, and we follow the developments closely and responsibly in order to protect the security of our citizen
She said: “Australia is disappointed that the United States has announced its withdrawal from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) that places restrictions and limits on Iran’s nuclear program.
In particular, the JCPOA requires “that under no circumstances will Iran ever seek, develop or acquire any nuclear weapons”.
Australia’s Foreign Minister Julie Bishop meets Israel’s President even Rivlin
The Australian Government has consistently said that the JCPOA should remain in force until such time that an alternative agreement can be negotiated.
While the US decision creates uncertainty for the future of the JCPOA, we strongly encourage Iran to continue to abide by its provisions.
Australia shares, with members of the international community, concerns about elements of Iran’s behaviour in the Middle East and urges all parties in the region to refrain from conduct which contributes to instability or conflict.
The United States has also announced that it will impose new sanctions on Iran and any affected Australian businesses should seek legal advice to ensure they comply with all sanctions.”
Ronald S. Lauder
World Jewish Congress President Ronald S. Lauder praised US President Donald Trump’s decision to allow sanctions to go forward on Iran, calling it an “unmistakable message to Iran and its allies that its very real threats against the United States and all other free and democratic nations in the world will not be tolerated.”
“Iran is a rogue nation ruled by a regime that cannot be trusted to honor its word, and even more so with nuclear capabilities that would enable it to wreak havoc on the world and cause a catastrophic arms race in the region,” Lauder said. “President Trump has taken a courageous step today in making it ever clear to the Islamic Republic that he will not stand by in silence as it continues to subvert the nuclear agreement and exploit the good faith of the international community. We urge other countries to follow this administration’s example and not allow Iran to flout international law.”
President of the Zionist Federation of Australia Dr Danny Lamm added: “The material recently released to the world by Israel’s PM Benjamin Netanyahu proves that the much vaunted Iran nuclear deal – the JCPOA agreement – was founded on more than one lie made by Iran to the P5+1 members, to the IAEA, to its own people and to the world at large. The Israeli operation proves once again that the current regime in Iran cannot be trusted.
Dr Danny Lamm
There are some who were quick to question the discovery suggesting it disclosed nothing new but they did so even before the entire contents of the large volume of material was fully disclosed, let alone analysed. This suggests that Israel’s detractors are more concerned with covering their backs for making a bad deal or with reaping the benefits financially of dealing with a rogue state than with making the world a safer place.
Those who believe the JCPOA is the best option we have available should think long and hard about the implications of placing further trust in an agreement with a regime that is not prepared to make itself accountable for its actions.”
Peter Wertheim, co-CEO of The Executive Council of Australian Jewry, said: “On balance, President Trump made the correct call in pulling the US out of the Iran nuclear deal. The JCPOA is neither credible nor fit for purpose in its present form. Pressure on the Iranian regime is the only way it might be possible to induce it to agree to the additional conditions needed to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons and continuing to bring the region to the brink of war.
Peter Wertheim
Iran must be made to abandon the measures it has taken to preserve and expand the nuclear know-how it previously acquired in pursuing its nuclear weapons program, known as Project Amad. The sunset clauses of the JCPOA should be nullified. Iran must be subjected to further sanctions if it is again caught lying to UN agencies about the true nature of its nuclear activities, or continues to develop its ballistic missile program, or persists in fomenting conflict and bloodshed through the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps or proxy terrorist groups such as Hezbollah and Hamas. Friendly relations such as those which ordinarily prevail between nations, cannot be sustained with Iran under its present regime.
Rob Berg, the president of the Zionist Federation of New Zealand stated: “When the Iranian Nuclear Deal was announced in 2015, the Zionist Federation of New Zealand put out a statement strongly condemning the agreement raising concerns about Iran’s honesty, and the impact that lifting of sanctions and the payment of US$100bn to Iran would have in the stability of the Middle East. In the time since the deal was announced, Iran’s honesty has been shown by Israel to be negligible and the Middle East has deteriorated into further chaos with Iran holding significant power now in Syria with its partnership with President Assad, and in Lebanon through Hezbollah. Iran is now within even closer reach to Israel and has been enhancing the military capability of those seeking to destroy the world’s only Jewish State.
Mark Leibler
Mark Leibler and Dr Colin Rubenstein said: The Australia/Israel & Jewish Affairs Council welcomes US President Donald Trump’s forthright announcement that the United States will withdraw from the Iran nuclear deal in the hope that this decision signals the beginning of a new era of negotiations and hard work that will put into place new arrangements to thwart Iran’s extremely dangerous nuclear and regional activities and ambitions.
Dr Colin Rubenstein
At the very least, the deeply flawed JCPOA agreement needs be supplemented with additional strong measures, if not completely renegotiated or replaced – and, as Trump suggested in his statement, his bold decision may open new possibilities to do so. We urge all governments, including Australia’s, to support efforts to seize this new opportunity to put in place new and more comprehensive arrangements with much stricter, verifiable compliance conditions.
Australia ‘disappointed’ – ho hum, what else would we expect? Julie Bishop says a lot while saying nothing (because after all, she is Minister for Foreign Affairs, and it’s important to have a say on what’s happening outside our island continent). And Malcolm Turnbull speaks to the status quo in boring generalities because he’s not brave enough, or sharp enough, to speak the truth.
When might we see politicians in this country who have the courage to stand tall?