JERUSALEM -- Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu continued Sunday to lash out at the nuclear agreement with Iran, saying that the Islamic Republic deserves no concessions until it changes its foreign policy toward Israel and the United States.
Speaking at the start of his weekly cabinet meeting in Jerusalem, Netanyahu said if anyone thought that Tuesday's nuclear deal would lead to a change in Iran's policy, "they received an unequivocal answer over the weekend in Khamenei's aggressive and contrary speech."
On Saturday, Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said the nuclear agreement would not change the country's stance toward the "arrogant" United States.
"We will never stop supporting our friends in the region and the people of Palestine, Yemen, Syria, Iraq, Bahrain and Lebanon. Even after this deal, our policy toward the arrogant United States will not change," Khamenei said in an address, marking the end of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.
Israel's hardliner prime minister, who made confronting a deal with Iran his central agenda, reiterated that any sanction relief will pave Iran's way to arm itself with nuclear weapons.
The alternative to the "failed agreement," Netanyahu said, "is the continuation and strengthening of the sanctions on Iran and conditioning the lifting of restrictions on Iran's nuclear program, and the lifting of pressure on Iran, only if it changes its policy."
"As long as the Iranian leadership is encouraging calls of 'Death to America' and 'Death to Israel,' there is no reason to make any concessions to them," he added.
On Tuesday, Iran and the six world powers -- the United States, Russia, France, Britain, China, and Germany-- reached an agreement on the Iranian nuclear issue that will put Iran on the path of sanctions relief but impose more strict limits on its nuclear program.
The deal is expected to be endorsed by a UN Security Council resolution in the coming days.
