Cancel Iran nuclear deal
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said that the nuclear deal between world powers and Iran should be amended or canceled.
Speaking in Buenos Aires alongside Argentine President Mauricio Macri, Netanyahu said he wanted to correct the impression in recent media reports that Israel's position on the 2015 deal had softened.
"So let me take this opportunity and clarify. Our position is straightforward. This is a bad deal -- either fix it or cancel it. This is Israel's position."
Netanyahu has repeatedly taken aim at Iran since arriving in Argentina on Monday as the first sitting Israeli prime minister to visit Latin America.
He accused Tehran of operating "a terror machine that encompasses the entire world, operating terror cells in many continents, including Latin America."
"In the case of Iran, it's not only merely terror, it's also the quest for nuclear weapons that concerns us and should concern the entire international community."
In a veiled reference to the US and world powers' preoccupation with North Korea, he said: "We understand the danger of a rogue nation having atomic bombs."
As the Israeli government seeks partners and alliances, dozens of left-wing activists waving Palestinian flags protested Netanyahu's presence in Buenos Aires late Tuesday over his "bellicose and repressive policies" against the Palestinians.
During his stay in Buenos Aires, the Israeli premier was also to meet Paraguayan President Horacio Cartes, who traveled expressly to the Argentine capital for the meeting.
Following the two-day visit, Netanyahu will visit Colombia and Mexico before heading to New York for the United Nations General Assembly.
Netanyahu yesterday said Israel supports the establishment of a Kurdish state as Kurds in Iraq gear up for a referendum on independence that lawmakers in Baghdad oppose.
Israel has maintained discreet military, intelligence and business ties with the Kurds since the 1960s, viewing the minority ethnic group -- whose indigenous population is split between Iraq, Turkey, Syria and Iran -- as a buffer against shared Arab adversaries.
On Tuesday, Iraq's Kurdish leader Massoud Barzani said he would press ahead with the Sept 25 referendum despite a vote by Iraq's parliament rejecting it.
Western powers are concerned a plebiscite in Iraq's semi-autonomous Kurdish region - including the oil-rich city of Kirkuk - could divert attention from the war against Islamic State militants.
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