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| Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (right) shakes hands with U.S. national-security adviser John Bolton during their meeting at the prime minister's office in Jerusalem on August 20. (Reuters) |
(Aug. 20) Meeting in Jerusalem, White House national-security adviser John Bolton and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu have called on European countries to increase pressure on Iran.
Bolton told Netanyahu on August 20 that the United States saw the "highest importance" in preventing Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons and that's why President Donald Trump withdrew from the "wretched" nuclear deal between Tehran and world powers.
"It's why we've worked with our friends in Europe to convince them of the need to take stronger steps against the Iranian nuclear-weapons and ballistic-missile program," Trump's national-security adviser added.
Trump and Netanyahu have been closely aligned on their approach to Iran since the U.S. president took office in January 2017.
Trump has consistently looked to increase pressure on Tehran to bring about what his administration has called a "change in behavior" regarding its weapons programs and its "destabilizing" activities in the region, accusations Iran denies.
In May, Trump pulled out of the landmark 2015 nuclear deal that Iran signed with six world powers and has reimposed sanctions that had been eased as terms of the accord.
Calling the agreement "disastrous," Netanyahu said that "all countries who care about peace and security in the Middle East should follow America's lead and ratchet up the pressure on Iran," in what was considered a veiled reference to European countries.
"The greater the pressure on Iran, the greater the chance that the regime will roll back its aggression," he added. "And everybody should join this effort."
