Israeli PM on Iran agreement: ‘I’m trying to kill a bad deal’

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reiterated his disapproval on Sunday of a framework agreement – a product of months of negotiations - that would later draft a deal limiting Iran’s nuclear capabilities.

Appearing on U.S. network NBC News, Netanyahu was questioned on why he is attempting to kill the deal.

“I'm not trying to kill any deal. I'm trying to kill a bad deal,” the premier said.

World leaders, as well as prominent figures in Iran, have hailed the agreement as a milestone in diplomacy and security.

Netanyahu claims the framework, reached after months of negotiations between Iran and six world powers, would leave the Islamic republic with a “vast nuclear infrastructure,” claiming that “not one centrifuge is destroyed.”

However, the parameters of the deal indicate that Iran has agreed to dismantle two-thirds of its installed centrifuges.

“Iran will go from having about 19,000 installed today to 6,104 installed under the deal, with only 5,060 of these enriching uranium for 10 years,” the U.S. State Department said.

Separately, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said on Sunday that all sanctions against Iran would be lifted as the deal goes into effect.

If Iran is relieved of sanctions, Netanyahu said he believed the country would use the money to “pump its worldwide terror machine.”

The Israeli premier, who recently won general elections in Israel extending his premiership for another five years, also appeared on CNN where he repeated similar comments.

“It keeps a vast nuclear infrastructure in place. Not a single centrifuge is destroyed. Not a single nuclear facility is shut down including the underground facilities that they built illicitly. Thousands of centrifuges will keep spinning enriching uranium. That's a bad deal,” he said.

Relations between Israel and its traditional U.S. ally are at an all-time low and were hugely damaged when Netanyahu took the unprecedented step of addressing Congress last month to attack the nuclear negotiations with Iran.

When asked if he trusts President Barack Obama, Netanyahu replied: “I trust that the president is doing what he thinks is good for the United States, but I think that we can have a legitimate difference of opinion on this because I think Iran has shown to be completely distrustful.”