By: Aryeh Savir
Israel is determined to fight Iran’s quest for nuclear weapons, the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic notwithstanding, as the Islamic Republic continues its push to obtain the weapons of mass destruction, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated Sunday.
Over the weekend, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) expressed grave concern over Iran’s refusal to allow its inspectors to access two clandestine sites at which Iran had allegedly carried out secret military nuclear activity prior to the signing of the 2015 nuclear deal.
The United Nations’ nuclear watchdog also warned that Iran’s enriched uranium stockpile is now over the limit agreed upon in the nuclear deal.
“Iran has systematically violated its commitments by hiding sites and enriching fissionable material and has committed other violations,” Netanyahu warned during the weekly Cabinet meeting.
He expressed his belief that “the time has come, and I think that the time has passed, but reality certainly requires it in the light of these revelations, for the international community to join the US and reimpose paralyzing sanctions on Iran.”
He emphasized that “in any case, the coronavirus has not lessened by one iota our determination to act against Iran’s aggression. I reiterate: Israel will not allow Iran to achieve nuclear weapons and will continue to act methodically against Iran’s attempts to militarily entrench on our borders.”
M.Reza Noroozpour, Deputy of the Iranian Government’s Spokesman, is following the Israeli Foreign Ministry’s Persian-Language Twitter account.
“A new follower on our Persian-language twitter, here to learn what Iranians think about his regime when they’re not being silenced,” tweeted Yiftah Curiel, head of Digital Diplomacy at the Foreign Ministry.
“The Iranian regime blocks social media for Iranians, then follows Israel to hear what they’re saying; let me tell you, it’s not good…,” Director General of Israel’s Foreign Ministry Yuval Rotem added.
Israel’s digital diplomacy team last week celebrated a milestone in its social media campaign to the Farsi-speaking world, and specifically Iran, when it reached 500,000 followers of its Instagram account.
“Many thanks to the 500,000 Iranian friends who follow us,” the Foreign Ministry said in its Farsi Instagram account.
Israel has an extensive following in the Arabic-speaking world as well.
More than 1.5 million Arabic speakers from 22 Arab countries follow Israel in Arabic on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube, with content viewed hundreds of millions of times annually.
The use of social media enables Israel to share a message of diversity, peace, and coexistence, as well as information on current political and security developments with millions of Arabs around the world, the Foreign Ministry explained.
Israel’s Foreign Ministry maintains more than 800 online channels in 50 languages.
(TPS)
