Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned that Iran possesses chemical weapons, describing them as an additional threat posed by the regime in Tehran.
Speaking in an interview with Newsmax, Netanyahu made the unusually direct assertion while discussing Iran’s military capabilities and the danger posed by the Islamic Republic.
“They definitely have chemical weapons. I can tell you that,” Netanyahu said. “And that is another threat that they pose.”
The prime minister did not provide additional details in the interview regarding the type, quantity or deployment status of the alleged chemical weapons.
Netanyahu also argued that Iran’s leadership maintains control over a population that largely rejects it.
According to the prime minister, the regime rules roughly 90 million people by force, while an overwhelming majority of Iranians oppose the country’s theocratic leadership.
“I think 80% of the Iranian people hate this regime,” Netanyahu said, describing Iran’s rulers as “theocratic thugs who took over the country by force of arms.”
He further accused Tehran of shooting, killing and wounding more than 40,000 Iranians who sought freedom.
Netanyahu argued that a government willing to use extreme violence against its own population could not be trusted with weapons of mass destruction.
A regime that does not hesitate to attack its own citizens, he suggested, would likewise not hesitate to use such weapons if it possessed them.
The Israeli leader then broadened his warning, saying the gravest danger facing humanity is the combination of a radical Islamist regime and nuclear weapons.
“The greatest danger to humanity is the marriage of a radical Islamic regime with nuclear weapons,” Netanyahu said.
When those two elements come together in Iran, he warned, “the entire world is in existential danger.”
Netanyahu said preventing that scenario has been a central Israeli objective.
“This is the danger we sought to prevent,” he said. “We pushed it back, but it is still not over. It is still too early to determine.”
His remarks came amid continued uncertainty over the future of Iran’s military and nuclear capabilities following the recent conflict and renewed regional escalation.
The prime minister’s comments also appeared aimed at reinforcing Israel’s argument that the Iranian threat extends far beyond the nuclear issue alone, encompassing missiles, regional proxy forces and, according to Netanyahu, chemical weapons as well.
