Netanyahu says Iran diplomatic deal impossible

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said a diplomatic agreement could not be reached with Iran's rulers, praised US President Donald Trump's new economic pressure campaign and warned Iran against any new attack on Israel.

Netanyahu told an event in Jerusalem late Tuesday for Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank that he and Trump had discussed possible diplomacy with Iran. “I doubt, however, that an agreement can be reached with that group there, with those savages. I tell you -- an agreement cannot be reached,” he said.

Netanyahu voiced support for Trump's pressure campaign and said he had told Trump of what he called a “third option”. He praised the US president for pursuing the economic path in “a very, very, very strong way”.

Trump on Monday declared an “economic D-Day” aimed at destroying Iran's economy, which has already faced years of sanctions. Netanyahu said Trump had chosen to target Iran and to tighten pressure on “those who assist this regime”.

Netanyahu said he and Trump also discussed renewing military action against Iran. “We are there, we will defend ourselves, and we will not allow Iran to attack us,” he said. He added that if Iran attacked Israel, it would suffer a blow “much stronger than anything they have suffered so far”.

Netanyahu has long opposed diplomacy with Iran and campaigned against the 2015 nuclear deal brokered under former US president Barack Obama. Trump joined Netanyahu in a US-Israeli joint attack on Iran in late February, then agreed to a ceasefire in April amid widespread US public opposition to the war and rising oil prices.

Netanyahu, who is trailing in some polls ahead of October 27 elections, met Trump at the White House on July 28. He also said Monday that Iran had tried to kill one of his sons, but gave no further details.