Israeli PM Netanyahu to Iran: Don't test Israel's resolve
Benjamin Netanyahu
MUNICH (AP) â The nuclear deal with Iran has emboldened Tehran to become increasingly aggressive in the Middle East   Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu  said Sunday  warning that Iran should "not test Israel's resolve" as  he  showed off what  he  said was part of a downed Iranian drone.
 Netanyahu  said of Iran that if the U.S. decides to scrap the 2015 nuclear deal  which  he  has long opposed  "I think they'll do nothing."
But Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif  appearing two hours later at the same Munich Security Conference  fired back that  Netanyahu 's comment was "delusional thinking."
Kerry dismissed  Netanyahu 's contention that Iran would be on its way to having a nuclear arsenal in 10 years  saying "that's fundamentally not accurate."
Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu  delivers a speech during the International Security Conference in Munich  Germany  Sunday  Feb. 18  2018. (Sven Hoppe/dpa via AP)
 Netanyahu  told world leaders  diplomats and defense officials at the conference that the deal was similar to the infamous 1938 "Munich Agreement" that Western powers signed with Adolf Hitler in an attempt to stave off war in Europe  which became synonymous with appeasement.
"The concessions to Hitler only emboldened the Nazi regime "  he  said. "Rather than choosing a path that might have prevented war... those well-intentioned leaders made a wider war inevitable and far more costly."
Similarly   he  said  the Iranian nuclear agreement has "unleashed a dangerous Iranian tiger in our region and beyond."
Declaring that Iran's "brazenness hit new highs "  he  theatrically held up a fragment of what  he  said was an Iranian drone shot down last week by Israel in Israeli airspace and challenged Zarif.
"Mr. Zarif  do you recognize this? You should  it's yours "  Netanyahu  said. "You can take back with you a message to the tyrants of Tehran â do not test Israel's resolve!"
Tehran has denied that the drone belonged to Iran. Zarif on Sunday dismissed  Netanyahu 's stunt as "a cartoonish circus... which does not even deserve the dignity of a response."
Iranian troops  along with Hezbollah and other Iranian-backed Shiite forces  have aided Syrian President Bashar Assad in his war against rebel groups.  Netanyahu  has repeatedly warned that  he  will not accept a permanent Iranian military presence in postwar Syria  fearing that Iran and its Shiite allies would turn their attention to Israel.
Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu  delivers a speech during the International Security Conference in Munich  Germany  Sunday  Feb. 18  2018. (Sven Hoppe/dpa via AP)
 Netanyahu  has been projecting a business-as-usual approach on  his  visit to Germany amid uproar at home after police on Tuesday said was sufficient evidence to indict  him  for bribery  fraud and breach of trust in two cases.  The Israeli leader  has angrily rejected the accusations and denounced what  he  describes as an overzealous police investigation.  He  has also dismissed the accusations as a witch hunt orchestrated by a hostile media.
Zarif suggested  Netanyahu  might be escalating tensions with Iran simply to distract from  his  domestic problems.
Denouncing what  he  said were Israel's "almost daily illegal incursions into Syrian airspace " Zarif said Israel was trying "to create these cartoonish images to blame others for its own strategic blunders  or maybe to evade the domestic crisis they're facing."
MUNICH (AP) â The nuclear deal with Iran has emboldened Tehran to become increasingly aggressive in  [TGT] said Sunday  warning that Iran should "not test Israel's resolve" as  he  showed off what  he  said was part of a downed Iranian drone.
  [TGT] said of Iran that if the U.S. decides to scrap the 2015 nuclear deal  which   [TGT]   has long opposed  "I think they'll do nothing."
But Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif  appearing two hours later at the same Munich Security Conference  fired back that   [TGT]  's comment was "delusional thinking."
Kerry dismissed   [TGT]  's contention that Iran would be on its way to having a nuclear arsenal in 10 years  saying "that's fundamentally not accurate."
 [TGT] delivers a speech during the International Security Conference in Munich  Germany  Sunday  Feb. 18  2018. (Sven Hoppe/dpa via AP)
  [TGT] told world leaders  diplomats and defense officials at the conference that the deal was similar to the infamous 1938 "Munich Agreement" that Western powers signed with Adolf Hitler in an attempt to stave off war in Europe  which became synonymous with appeasement.
"The concessions to Hitler only emboldened the Nazi regime "   [TGT]   said. "Rather than choosing a path that might have prevented war... those well-intentioned leaders made a wider war inevitable and far more costly."
Similarly    [TGT]   said  the Iranian nuclear agreement has "unleashed a dangerous Iranian tiger in our region and beyond."
Declaring that Iran's "brazenness hit new highs "  he  theatrically held up a fragment of what  he  said was an Iranian drone shot down last week by Israel in Israeli airspace and challenged Zarif.
"Mr. Zarif  do you recognize this? You should  it's yours "  Netanyahu  said. "You can take back with you a message to the tyrants of Tehran â do not test Israel's resolve!"
Tehran has denied that the drone belonged to Iran. Zarif on Sunday dismissed  Netanyahu 's stunt as "a cartoonish circus... which does not even deserve the dignity of a response."
Iranian troops  along with Hezbollah and other Iranian-backed Shiite forces  have aided Syrian President Bashar Assad in his war against rebel groups.  Netanyahu  has repeatedly warned that  he  will not accept a permanent Iranian military presence in postwar Syria  fearing that Iran and its Shiite allies would turn their attention to Israel.
Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu  delivers a speech during the International Security Conference in Munich  Germany  Sunday  Feb. 18  2018. (Sven Hoppe/dpa via AP)
 Netanyahu  has been projecting a business-as-usual approach on  his  visit to Germany amid uproar at home after police on Tuesday said was sufficient evidence to indict  him  for bribery  fraud and breach of trust in two cases.  The Israeli leader  has angrily rejected the accusations and denounced what  he  describes as an overzealous police investigation.  He  has also dismissed the accusations as a witch hunt orchestrated by a hostile media.
Zarif suggested  Netanyahu  might be escalating tensions with Iran simply to distract from  his  domestic problems.
Denouncing what  he  said were Israel's "almost daily illegal incursions into Syrian airspace " Zarif said Israel was trying "to create these cartoonish images to blame others for its own strategic blunders  or maybe to evade the domestic crisis they're facing."