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Netanyahu: Iran's Nuke Program Barely Touched

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JERUSALEM, Israel -- As six world powers prepare to meet with Iranian offcials in Vienna Tuesday over Tehran's nuclear program, many, including Israel, are doubtful the talks will be successful.

The talks bring Iran together with the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council (U.S., Britain, France, China, and Russia), plus Germany.

Their goal is to finalize a deal reached last November in Geneva. Under that six-month accord, Iran agreed to cap its nuclear program in return for limited sanctions relief by the West.

Meanwhile in Jerusalem, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told a meeting of Jewish leaders from the United States that the interim deal reached last November has slowed Iran's nuclear program by only four weeks.

"That's what Iran has given to the world, which means it's given practically nothing, but Iran has received a great deal," Netanyahu told conference participants.

"It's received the easing of sanctions," he continued. "It's received the nations that are queuing up to ease more sanctions with Iran and do more business with Iran. It's very important to understand that."

"Iran has given zero, or practically zero," Netanyahu reiterated. "It's given four weeks, but it's receiving a new position in the world. It's being legitimized."

Netanyahu warned that Iran's new centrifuges are 50 times faster than their old ones and that Iran is developing ICBMs -- intercontinental ballistic missiles -- with one goal in mind.

"By the way, the range is geared to Europe and soon to the United States. It's not for us," he explained. "And there's only one purpose in the world to develop ICBMs. You don't develop intercontinental ballistic missiles to deliver some hundreds of kilos of TNT. Believe me, nobody does that. You develop an ICBM to deliver a nuclear payload."

Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee told CBN News that current U.S. policy toward Iran is naïve.

"This is not a government our country can trust," Huckabee said. "I'm amazed at the naiveté of the Obama administration when it comes to Iran."

"The Iranians are laughing up their sleeve. They're dancing in the streets because they're getting everything they want," he explained. "They're being able to be once again this country that is not being held accountable -- not only for their actions in accelerating toward nuclear weaponization, but they're virtually being rewarded [for] hateful, not just anti-Semitic, rhetoric that they tossed, not just to Israel but to the United States."

The talks in Vienna are expected to last three days.

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About The Author

Chris Mitchell
Chris
Mitchell

In a time where the world's attention is riveted on events in the Middle East, CBN viewers have come to appreciate Chris Mitchell's timely reports from this explosive region of the world. Chris brings a Biblical and prophetic perspective to these daily news events that shape our world. He first began reporting on the Middle East in the mid-1990s. Chris repeatedly traveled there to report on the religious and political issues facing Israel and the surrounding Arab states. One of his more significant reports focused on the emigration of persecuted Christians from the Middle East. In the past