Israeli PM: world powers can't do business with Iran regime

Israel's prime minister Naftali Bennett said Thursday that he "would prefer it if the world would understand" that world powers "can't do business" with the Iranian regime.

Speaking at a graduation ceremony for a new crop of Israeli Air Force pilots, Bennet described the Iranian leadership as "a violent and fanatic regime, which elected as President the 'hangman from Tehran'".

Bennett added that dialogue with "friends" continued "out of deep mutual respect", but that "in the end, we will keep the responsibility for our fate in our hands".

On Sunday, Bennett slammed Iran's newly-elected president and called on world powers to "wake up" to the perils of returning to a nuclear agreement with Tehran.

Iran's hard-line judiciary chief, Ebrahim Raisi, was elected Saturday with 62% of the vote amid historically low turnout. He is sanctioned by the U.S. in part over his involvement in the mass execution of thousands of political prisoners in 1988, at the end of the Iran-Iraq war. Raisi has not commented specifically on the event.

For weeks, Iranian and American diplomats have been negotiating a return to the accord in Vienna through European intermediaries. Talks resumed Sunday, the first round since the election that put hard-liners firmly in control across Iran's government.

Israel was staunchly opposed to the landmark nuclear deal and welcomed then-President Donald Trump's decision to unilaterally withdraw the U.S. from it.

Since then, the agreement has unraveled, with Iran abandoning all its limitations on enrichment after the Trump administration restored crippling economic sanctions. Tehran is currently enriching uranium at its highest levels ever, though still short of weapons-grade levels.

IMAGE: AP