Netanyahu to Russian official: Israel will do anything it takes to prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons

(Ronen Zvulun/Pool, via AP)

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, right, and Nikolai Patrushev, secretary of the Russian Security Council, meet in Jerusalem, Monday, June 24, 2019.

Russian official Patrushev said that Russia is paying ‘special attention to ensuring Israel’s security’

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told Russia’s National Security Council Secretary Nikolai Patrushev on Monday that Israel will do anything to prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons.

Patrushev met Netanyahu in Jerusalem on Monday as part of the security summit between US, Russia and Israel.

“I’m certain that Russia understands what it means for us when a regime calls for our annihilation, and acts on a daily basis to achieve that aim,” Netanyahu said in a meeting at his Jerusalem office Patrushev.

“Israel won’t allow an Iran that calls for our annihilation to entrench itself on our border, and we will do anything it takes to prevent it from obtaining nuclear weapons,” Netanyahu added.

Patrushev on his part said that Russia is paying “special attention to ensuring Israel’s security.”

Israel’s security, Patrushev said, is “a special interest of ours because here in Israel live a little less than about two million of our countrymen. Israel supports us in several channels, including at the UN. The prime minister (Netanyahu) has already said that we share the same views on the issue of the struggle against falsifying the history of World War II.”

Last week, however, Patrushev said Moscow would taking Iran’s interests into account during the security summit in Jerusalem.

“Iran is in Syria at the invitation of the legitimate government and is actively involved in fighting terrorism. Therefore, of course, we will have to take into account the interests of Iran,” Patrushev said.