Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel Prime Minister, Accuses Iran Of Playing 'Chess Game'

PRAGUE -- Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Friday he is skeptical that Iran will agree to halt its nuclear program, accusing Tehran of playing a "chess game" with the international community.

Just days ahead of a crucial round of nuclear talks with Tehran, Netanyahu said "nothing would be better than to just see this issue solved diplomatically."

"But I have to say I see no evidence whatsoever that Iran is serious about ending its nuclear program," he said.

The five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council and Germany are gearing up for a May 23 meeting with Iran in Baghdad.

Iran says its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes, like energy production. The West and Israel suspect Iran is pursuing nuclear weapons. Israel says a nuclear weapon in the hands of Iran would threaten the Jewish state's survival.

Speaking briefly after meeting Czech President Vaclav Klaus in Prague, Netanyahu called the Iranian nuclear program "the paramount issue of our time."

He repeated Israeli demands to be met for the negotiations to be successful: all uranium enrichment inside Iran has to be frozen, its current stockpile of enriched uranium has to be shipped out of the country and an underground enrichment facility near the city of Qom has to be dismantled.

"When this is achieved, I'm the first one to applaud. But until then, you have to count me among the skeptics," Netanyahu said.

Netanyahu did not present any ultimatums, but Israeli officials have said time is running out to avoid military action. Also the U.S. has said it has plans in place to attack Iran if necessary to prevent it from developing nuclear weapons

In Prague, Netanyahu accused Iran of using the talks just to "buy time, pretty much as North Korea did for years," going "from meeting to meeting with empty promises."

"Iran is very good in playing this chess game," he said.

Earlier on HuffPost:

Comments

[Djay0252]

09:11 AM on 05/25/2012

'Iran Plays Chess Game'........and israel is cheating at theirs.

[Anybodyseenthepopos]

07:04 PM on 05/24/2012

AND IN OTHER HEARTWARMING NEWS FROM TEHERAN.......

This song has earned the rapper a Fatwa.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4rDXhjIN030&feature=results_video&playnext=1&list=PLAF40DB72126DEF32

Details Here: http://www.dw.de/dw/article/0,,15955149,00.html

Ayatollah's targeting German rappers for death. The religion of PIECE.

[Wisdo]

07:23 AM on 05/23/2012

Ah I see, Iran is playing a "chess game". But at the same time they are insane religious madmen, incapable of rational thought or even the most basic feelings of self-preservation. What a dichotomy! these Irans must be special people indeed.

[Anybodyseenthepopos]

10:00 AM on 05/23/2012

Nice to see you finally figured it out...

"Iranian rapper in hiding, but defiant after call for his death"

http://www.foxnews.com/world/2012/05/21/iranian-rapper-in-hiding-but-defiant-after-call-for-his-death/#ixzz1vWgaVmRf

Najafi, 32, who is a German citizen and has lived in Cologne, is a star in his homeland, where he has 200,000 fans on his Facebook page. He fled to Germany in 2005 after being sentenced to a hundred lashes and three years in jail. But his new song brought the ultimate sentence because it is considered an insult to a ninth-century Shiite imam, Ali al Hadi al-Naqi, also known as Imam Naghi. Shiites venerate al-Naqi, a direct descendant of the Prophet Muhammad. An Iranian website, Shia Online, has offered $100,000 to anyone who kills Najafi.

[Wisdo]

08:43 AM on 05/24/2012

Your source is Fox News.

[alterego55]

01:30 PM on 05/22/2012

Israel is the mother of all Abrahamic religions. And all Abrahamic religions call for world massacre to fulfill their prophecies. The only difference is which savior wins the cage match.

[alterego55]

12:44 PM on 05/22/2012

The only reason Israel exists as a nation today is because world guilt over the Holocaust made the world look the other way when Menachem Begin was on his terrorism spree. As leader of Irgun, the Zionist terrorist group, Menachem Begin is responsible for:

• Blowing up the King David Hotel, killing 100 Jewish, Christian and Muslim men, women and children (1946)

• Massacreing the entire village of Deir Yassin, killing 600 Palestinian men, women and children (1948).

Menachem Begin and the Zionists were rewarded for their terrorism. Palestinians saw this success and modeled their efforts after this terrorism. Unfortunately for them, they didn't have world guilt on their side and didn't get to enjoy the rewards that Menachem Begin and the Zionists did.

[Teacher 15]

03:34 AM on 05/23/2012

nasty, error-filled post about a man who's been dead for years

Arabs have attacked Jews in the region for over 100 years; they didn't get their inspiration from Zionists

[alterego55]

12:12 PM on 05/23/2012

And exactly which fact is in error?

[GilGamish]

07:39 AM on 05/23/2012

sorry but Palestinian terror began way before that. see Hebron Massacre in 1929. also the Irgun called first and said they were planing a bomb in the King David Hotel which was the MILITARY headquarters for the British at the time. So clearly the Palestinians didn't model anything on that. They prefer non military targets like pizza shops and don't place a call.

[Wisdo]

08:04 AM on 05/23/2012

Israeli terror has gone above and beyond anything that happened in the bloodsoaked creation of the state. Israels' killing sprees regularly result in the deaths of thousands.

[CapSen]

08:17 AM on 05/23/2012

Did Irgun call Deir Yassin too?

Palestinians were and are reacting to a violent invasion. Land theft and ethnic cleansing.

Really...

[CapSen]

12:35 PM on 05/22/2012

Yeah, that's a bummer. He won't get to nuke Iran just yet.

[NoireLion]

11:34 AM on 05/22/2012

The Israeli- Neo Con Commander speaks.

I'm really starting to dislike this manipulating fella.
All he ever does is stir up trouble- picking one country after another for USA to fight- with friends like him- USA doesn't need any enemies- he makes them for us.

I wish Israel would dry up and blow away- our friendship with those people is bad for our health and Treasury. All they do is take take take- and stir up more trouble- its never enough with these greedy warmongers.

[hearthammer]

12:11 PM on 05/22/2012

Exactly! Whine, whine, whine all the time!

[Wisdo]

07:26 AM on 05/23/2012

"I wish Israel would dry up and blow away"

be careful, that sentence can easily be mistranslated into "I.want.to.Wipe.Israel.Off.The.Map with.my.thermonuclear.weapons.I.am.building/have built"

[sixtoes]

08:02 AM on 05/22/2012

What's the matter, Bibi? You think you're the only one who knows how to play chess?

[kaprock]

08:03 PM on 05/21/2012

This is going to end badly. My hope is at least that Israel and the US will perform predictably and with sufficient emphasis that the result will serve as an object lesson for other Islamic extremists.

[alterego55]

12:11 PM on 05/22/2012

If the US wants to reduce its risk of Islamic terrorism to near zero, only two things need to be done:

1. Quit funding Israel's military.
2. Remove our bases from the Middle East.

[CapSen]

12:37 PM on 05/22/2012

My hope is the US and Israel will stop warmongering and bothering other people period.

Stop the wholesale killing of innocent people the world over. Destroying entire countries in the process.

[Teacher 15]

03:37 AM on 05/23/2012

"Stop the wholesale killing of innocent people the world over."
It's your group who does that, and it's they who should stop

[Domingo Cardoza]

06:54 PM on 05/21/2012

"Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel Prime Minister, Accuses Iran Of Playing 'Chess Game"

I takes one to know one:

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/checkpoint-washington/2010/07/netanyahu_america_is_a_thing_y.html

[Domingo Cardoza]

03:16 PM on 05/21/2012

Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel Prime Minister, Accuses Iran Of Playing 'Chess Game' --- Said the man who introduced the concept that America (and its dumb politicians -my add) is easy to manipulate. http://voices.washingtonpost.com/checkpoint-washington/2010/07/netanyahu_america_is_a_thing_y.html

I guess he doesn't like the competition

[Wisdo]

07:27 AM on 05/23/2012

Also: Says the man who bragged about destroying the Oslo peace process.

[Talab]

10:00 AM on 05/21/2012

Netanyahu claimed Iran was playing chess just to anger Republicans in Congress (cause he knows House Republicans are still trying to figure out checkers) ROFL

[sixtoes]

08:16 AM on 05/22/2012

While at the same time, the Dems are trying to figure out Go Fish.

[Wisdo]

07:28 AM on 05/23/2012

Republicans thing chess is some islamic murder ritual now.

[Geo80]

02:37 AM on 05/21/2012

Netanyahu is doing a good job keeping Israel successful and safe these last few years.

If you want to look at actual awful leaders of failed countries, look at the rest of that region.

[Nwo2012]

04:55 AM on 05/21/2012

Tallest dwarf in the pantomime

[NoireLion]

11:38 AM on 05/22/2012

"Netanyahu is doing a good job keeping Israel successful and safe these last few years."
by fobbing off Israel's enemies onto USA.
I didn't sign up to fight Israel's wars.
You love em so much why don't you and other Israeli- lovers get up off your couch and go suit up and fight for them? Instead you sit there- allowing American citizens to die for them- and our taxes money to just flood there. While our troops come home in body bags- and our own country falls apart. People loving a foreign country more than their own have a name.
We all know what it is.

[GilGamish]

07:55 AM on 05/23/2012

"by fobbing off Israel's enemies onto USA.
I didn't sign up to fight Israel's wars."

I don't think you signed up to fight any wars. If you are going to pose as an American don't give yourself away by using British slang.

[the grange gorman]

11:04 AM on 05/20/2012

Bibi is such a hater


I have played chess , tennis and golf already today , does that make me a bad person ?

Chess is just another game.

[Seawolf56]

09:34 AM on 05/20/2012

Unfortunatley the USA will have to once again pay for the mess Israel will create. How many Nukes does Israel have?? 300 +!! OH yea.. Time for Israel to give up their nukes and leave the Palestines and Iranians alone. BTW there are 25,000 jews living in Iran, where is the concern for their saftey?? Playing victim for hundreds of years is getting old... NO ONE CARES!!