Iran poses a 'threat' in the East Med

Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says that Iran constitutes a threat against every country in the Mediterranean and it is in the interest of everyone to “prevent the aggression.”

He was addressing a joint press conference, on Tuesday, in Nicosia, after a trilateral summit with Cyprus President Nicos Anastasiades and Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras.

The regime in Teheran, Netanyahu said, “openly calls daily for our destruction, for the elimination of Israel from the face of the earth and it practices unmitigated aggression against us and against everyone else in the region.”

“It is now seeking to plant very dangerous weapons in Syria to be used against Israel for the specific purpose of our destruction.”

“I think it is in the interest of everyone to prevent the aggression,” he added.

He also said that Iran now wishes to establish military naval bases in the Mediterranean for Iranian ships and submarines.

“This is a palpable threat against all of us."

“Everyone recognises the malign intentions of Iran and everyone recognises the right of Israel for self-defence,” he added.

Tsipras said that he shares the concern expressed by the Israeli Prime Minister on the long-range ballistic missile tests.

But he argued that scrapping the nuclear weapons agreement with Iran “would likely lead the region to further destabilisation".

President Anastasiades said that during their talks, together with Alexis Tsipras they conveyed to Netanyahu that “any effort which undermines or threatens the right of existence of the state of Israel is inconceivable and cannot be tolerated.”

“We stressed in no uncertain terms that even a suspicion of anti-Semitic behaviour is unacceptable and absolutely condemnable.”