Iran Deal: ‘End of the Arab World’

Secretary of State John Kerry has called Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s reaction to the Iran deal “way over the top,” even as others in the region have chimed in with their own criticisms of the deal, the Times of Israel reports.

Netanyahu called the deal “a stunning historic mistake” that “repeats the mistakes made with North Korea.” He also told President Barack Obama, in a separate phone call, that the deal will do nothing to stop Iran from building a nuclear weapon. Obama told him that the deal is in Israel’s “national security interest.”

Others in the region share Netanyahu’s assessment. Saudi Arabia called the deal “extremely dangerous,” while Lebanese Druze leader Walid Jumblatt said that it meant “the end of the Arab world as we know it.” The loudest cheers for the deal, other than the government-supported rallies in Iran, came from the terrorist group Hezbollah and from the Syrian regime, both of which depend on Iranian weapons and soldiers.

Israeli opposition leaders shared Netanyahu’s view of the deal, though some also complained that his vocal opposition had failed to stop it.