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Netanyahu and Trump vow to block Iran's nuclear and missile programmes

An Iranian security official in protective clothing walks through part of the Uranium Conversion Facility just outside the city of Isfahan, 30 March, 2005
An Iranian security official in protective clothing walks through part of the Uranium Conversion Facility just outside the city of Isfahan, 30 March, 2005 Copyright  Vahid Salemi/Copyright 2005 The AP. All rights reserved.
Copyright Vahid Salemi/Copyright 2005 The AP. All rights reserved.
By Gavin Blackburn
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Netanyahu's words come days after Trump said he wants to "eradicate" Iran's nuclear and ballistic missile programme after the two leaders met in Washington last week.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Monday that he and US President Donald Trump would not permit Iran to restore its ballistic and nuclear programmes, with the ties between the two and their respective countries "a recipe for the continuation of our series of achievements in 2026 as well."

"We will not allow Iran to restore its ballistic missile industry, and certainly we will not allow it renew the nuclear programme that we significantly damaged," Netanyahu told lawmakers at the Knesset.

Netanyahu also lauded the ongoing protests over hyperinflation and cost-of-living spike in Iran, calling it “a decisive moment, in which the Iranian people take their futures into their hands.”

“We in Israel identify with the struggle of the Iranian people,” he said, “and its aspirations for freedom and justice.”

Netanyahu's words come days after Trump himself said the US would "eradicate" Iran's nuclear and ballistic missile programme after the two leaders met in Mar-a-Lago last week.

An Iranian security officer directs media at the Bushehr nuclear power plant, 21 August, 2010
An Iranian security officer directs media at the Bushehr nuclear power plant, 21 August, 2010 AP Photo

Israeli officials and media have expressed concern in recent months that Iran is rebuilding its ballistic missile arsenal after it was damaged during the 12-day conflict with Israel in June.

Trump said Iran "may be behaving badly" and was looking at new nuclear sites to replace those targeted by US strikes during the same conflict, as well as restoring its missile stockpiles.

"I hope they're not trying to build up again because if they are, we're going have no choice but very quickly to eradicate that buildup," Trump said, adding that the US response "may be more powerful than the last time."

But Trump said he believed Iran was still interested in a deal with Washington on its nuclear and missile programmes. Tehran has always maintained its nuclear programme is for peaceful, civilian purposes and has denied it is seeking to develop nuclear weapons.

US President Donald Trump shakes hands with Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at a news conference at Mar-a-Lago, 29 December, 2025
US President Donald Trump shakes hands with Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at a news conference at Mar-a-Lago, 29 December, 2025 AP Photo

The landmark 2015 nuclear deal with Iran, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), saw Tehran receive sanctions relief in return for limits on its nuclear activities.

That agreement all but collapsed after Trump withdrew the US from it in 2018, slamming it as "the worst deal ever negotiated" and reimposing what he called a "maximum pressure" campaign of sanctions on Iran.

Protests erupted in Iran on 28 December when shopkeepers in the capital Tehran staged a strike over high prices and economic stagnation, after the rial plunged to a record low against the US dollar.

They have since spread to other cities and expanded to include political demands.

Additional sources • AFP

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