Reaction to Netanyahu’s Speech in Iran and Arab Countries

Iranian officials issued furious responses to Israeli PM Netanyahu’s speech before Congress on Tuesday while strikingly more positive signals were given by governments and media outlets in Sunni Arab countries. Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif expressed disgust and contempt for Netanyahu’s speech in comments to the media on Tuesday, hours after other comments to the media in which he expressed outrage and rejection of the nuclear deal offered to Iran by the Obama Administration that Netanyahu’s speech before Congress was primarily concerned with.

Elsewhere, Saudi Arabia signed a $2 billion deal this week with South Korea to build small and medium-sized nuclear reactors. The official reason given for the project it to generate electrical power aimed at desalinating water, but experts pointed out that the expertise and infrastructure needed for the reactors would give Saudi Arabia a solid foundation should it wish to pursue military nuclear capabilities. Meanwhile, US Secretary of State John Kerry will visit Saudi Arabia this week in an effort to reassure Washington’s closest Arab ally that a nuclear deal with Iran will not come at the expense of the Arab countries.