Obama: If Congress Kills Iran Deal, Rockets Will Fall on Tel Aviv

Local Editor

If the US Congress shoots down the Iranian nuclear deal, America will eventually be pressured into a military strike against Tehran's nuclear facilities, which will in turn increase terror against "Israel", US President Barack Obama said Tuesday, a source who was present at the meeting said.

During the two-hour meeting, Obama said it was legitimate for opponents of the deal to lobby lawmakers to reject it, but added that a discussion focused on personal attacks, rather than the merits of the deal, could jeopardize the resilience of US-"Israel" relations, according to Greg Rosenbaum, the chair of the National Jewish Democratic Council.

Speaking to the ""Israel" Diplomatic Correspondents Association" after the meeting with the president, Rosenbaum said that Obama had meticulously tried to debunk the arguments against the Iran deal, while acknowledging that the agreement was "by no means perfect."

Some of the opponents of the deal had complained that the administration has been portraying them as warmongers, by asserting that the only alternative to the deal - signed last month in Vienna between Iran and six world powers - is war, according to several officials who attended the meeting. Obama replied that he truly believes that if the deal will be rejected by Congress, the ultimate result will be a military strike, Rosenbaum said.

If Congress succeeds in killing the deal and Iran were to subsequently walk away from the agreement and start enriching uranium again to weapons-grade levels, the opponents of the deal will pressure the US government into launching a preemptive strike against the Islamic Republic's nuclear facilities, the president was said to have argued.

Furthermore, during the White House briefing, Obama indicated that he was ready and willing to meet Netanyahu and discuss, "in more than general terms," upgrading Washington's military assistance to "Israel", but that the Zionist leader had been unwilling to do so at this point, Rosenbaum said.

The president also implied that he had offered a meeting with Netanyahu - similar to his meeting with leaders of the Arab Gulf states - but that the prime minister had rebuffed the overture, according to Rosenbaum. The president believes that Netanyahu refuses to hold discussions about financial compensation because he intends to fight the deal, he said.

During the White House briefing, which was characterized by participants as "serious" and "contentious," opponents and advocates of the deal clashed verbally, each side accusing the other of badmouthing it. Opponents said the administration portrayed them as seeking war with Iran.

In a prolonged back-and-forth with Lee Rosenberg, chairman of the American "Israel" Public Affairs Committee, Obama reportedly said it was fine for the organization to spend millions of dollars on efforts to kill the deal.

During his video address earlier Tuesday, Netanyahu warned that, if ratified, the nuclear deal would lead to war and a "nightmare" regional nuclear arms race.

"This deal will bring war," he cautioned. "Iran can keep the deal or Iran can cheat on the deal," Either way, it will have the bomb, Netanyahu said, before adding, "hundreds of bombs." Furthermore, he said, addressing the audience, Iran has been building intercontinental ballistic missiles in order "to hit you," not "Israel".

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team