Netanyahu: International sanctions on Iran are working

Haaretz -- In interview with The Weekend Australian, the prime minister says Iran, for the first time, is beginning to bend under sanctions and under threat of sanctions on central bank.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he is confident that the strong sanctions that the international community has been imposing on Iran are working, in an interview with The Weekend Australian.

Netanyahu said Iran is beginning to fold due to the combination of sanctions and threats of military action on its nuclear facilities.

"For the first time, I see Iran wobble under the sanctions that have been adopted and especially under the threat of strong sanctions on their central bank," Netanyahu told The Weekend Australian.

"If these sanctions are coupled with a clear statement by the international community, led by the U.S., to act militarily to stop Iran if sanctions fail, Iran may consider not going through the pain. There's no point gritting your teeth if you're going to be stopped anyway."

The prime minister said that Iran is trying to hide its nuclear program underground, and stressed that the greatest danger to the world would be if a nuclear weapon fell in the hands of a radical Islamist regime or that a radical Islamist regime succeed in attaining a nuclear weapon.

"The first will happen if the Taliban takes over Pakistan. The second will happen if the ayatollah regime were to acquire the atomic bomb," Netanyahu said.

"Either one would be a catastrophic development for peace, for the supply of oil to the world, for the safety of many countries; First of all my own country but also to many others."