Netanyahu urges Europe to join fight against Iran, cites long-range missile attack

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited the site of a missile strike in the southern city of Arad on Sunday and urged world leaders to join the Israeli-US military campaign against Iran, citing Tehran’s recent missile launch targeting the UK-US military base at Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean.

One of the two fired ballistic missiles was intercepted successfully while the other one failed, but the attack showed that Iran has missiles that can reach far beyond what was assumed or claimed till now.

‘They now have the capacity to reach deep into Europe’

“They fired an intercontinental ballistic missile on Diego Garcia. That's 4,000 kilometres. I have been warning all the time. They now have the capacity to reach deep into Europe. They already have fired on European countries, Cyprus,” Netanyahu said.

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“They are putting everyone in their sights. And [they’re] stopping a maritime international route, energy route, and trying to blackmail the entire world,” the PM added while referring to the blocking of the Strait of Hormuz by Iran.

“What more proof do you need that this regime that threatens the entire world has to be stopped? Israel and the United States are working together for the entire world. And it’s time to see the leaders of the rest of the countries join up. I’m happy to say that I can see some of them beginning to move in that direction, but more is needed,” he added.

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President Trump’s call to have the international community confront this terrorist, fanatic regime of zealots, that is a call not only for the security of America and the security of Israel; it’s for the security of the entire world, Netanyahu said, adding, “And it is time for them to act.”

US President Donald Trump has repeatedly complained about the lack of international support for the offensive.

Netanyahu also condemned Iran’s recent attacks near holy sites in Jerusalem.

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‘They were targeting the holy sites of three major monotheistic religions’

“They fired on Jerusalem, right next to the holy sites of the three monotheistic faiths: the Western Wall, the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, and the Al-Aqsa Mosque. By dint of a miracle, none of them were hurt, but they were targeting the holy sites of the three major monotheistic religions,” he says.

On being asked to respond on Iran’s attacks on Israeli civilians, Netanyahu said, “We’re responding with great force, but not on civilians. We’re going after the regime. We’re going after the IRGC, this criminal gang, and we’re going after them personally, their leaders, their installations, their economic assets. We’re going after them very strongly.”

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“We’ve defined two clear goals. One is to break completely their nuclear programme, break completely their missile programme, break completely their capacity to produce the components for both of these programmes. We’re well on our way in achieving it. We’ve also set a goal of creating conditions for the Iranian people to overthrow this tyranny that has tormented them and made life miserable and is making life miserable for the entire world. And I hope we achieve that too,” the PM said.