Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Friday in an exclusive Fox News interview that the world cannot allow Iran to develop a nuclear weapon.

Netanyahu theorized to Sean Hannity about what the outcome would be in a confrontation where an “Islamist terror state” has nuclear weapons. He warned of irreparable damage and said “we cannot allow that to happen."

ISIS MOVES ITS CAPITAL IN SYRIA

“If we are resolute in our policies, we can make sure that doesn’t happen,” he said on “Hannity.”

Netanyahu made the comment a day after President Trump ripped into the deal struck by Iran, the U.S. and other world powers in 2015 and said "it shouldn't have been signed." Yet he pointedly stopped sort of telegraphing whether or not the U.S. would stay in.

Under the deal, brokered during the Obama administration, Iran agreed roll back key aspects of its nuclear program in exchange for relief from certain economic sanctions. Critics have said it's unfathomable that the U.S. would grant sanctions relief to Tehran even as it continues testing ballistic missiles, violating human rights and supporting extremist groups elsewhere in the Middle East.

Netanahu told Hannity that his problem with Iran is not merely that it will violate the deal. He said if Iran does not violate the deal, in 12 years, it will “walks into unimpeded enrichment of uranium.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report


(foxnews.com)

• 18:31, 22 APR 2017
• UPDATED07:45, 23 APR 2017
• 
  

North Korea has warned it will wipe America "off the face of the Earth" after accusing the US of planning a chemical weapons attack.

In an explosive new report published today, the secretive country has claimed the US is plotting an 'unprecedented disaster' on its nation.

However, the country says it will not remain a 'passive onlooker' - instead vowing to destroy the US, or 'empire of evils', in a catastrophic retaliation.

State newspaper The Rodong Sinmun says: "The DPRK will never remain a passive onlooker to the moves of the U.S. to provoke a biochemical war against it but will conclude the standoff with the U.S., the empire of evils, by wiping it off the face of the Earth.

"The U.S. must not disregard the warning of the DPRK that its reckless military moves would lead to its most miserable final doom."

The report, entitled 'U.S. Biochemical War Plan against Korean Nation under Fire', claimed the US is plotting a chemical weapons attack on the country.

North Korea flaunts missiles in show of force amid rising tensions with America

It claimed that evidence had been uncovered suggesting the US transported chemical weapons to the South Korean port city of Busan in preparation for war.

The state newspaper adds: "The U.S. has fully revealed its criminal scenario to make no scruple of using biochemical weapons to exterminate the Korean nation in order to realize its wild ambition for dominating the world.

"Recently, the U.S. is busy floating the wild rumor about "threat from biochemical weapons" of the DPRK. Lurking behind this is its sinister design to secure a pretext for provoking a biochemical war against the DPRK."

It added: "The South Korean puppet group of traitors should not run riot, thinking twice about the catastrophic consequences to be entailed by their treacherous acts of conniving and backing the thrice-cursed and inhuman moves of the U.S. for igniting a biochemical war by playing the role of its stooge.

"All Koreans in the north, the south and abroad should turn out as one in the nation-wide struggle to frustrate the foolhardy north-targeted war moves of the U.S., the harasser of human peace and the most brutal mastermind of aggression, and the south Korean puppet group of traitors toeing the U.S. line."

For years Pyongyang has claimed the US government was preparing the so-called 'Plan Jupiter', a biochemical attack on the Korean Peninsula intended to topple the government of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un .

"All Koreans in the north, the south and abroad should turn out as one in the nation-wide struggle to frustrate the foolhardy north-targeted war moves of the U.S., the harasser of human peace and the most brutal mastermind of aggression, and the south Korean puppet group of traitors toeing the U.S. line."

For years Pyongyang has claimed the US government was preparing the so-called 'Plan Jupiter', a biochemical attack on the Korean Peninsula intended to topple the government of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un .

North Korea is one of six nations that has not signed the 1993 Chemical Weapons Convention.

The Nuclear Threat Initiative, a US-based non-profit opposed to the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, estimated in its 2015 report that North Korea possessed somewhere between 2,500 and 5,000 tons of chemical weapons

The claim came as North Korean soldiers were spotted getting in some R&R by playing volleyballat its nuclear test site this week.

The astonishingly pin sharp images captured during the latest satellite flyby of the zone show players out on at least three separate courts at the same time.

The implication is that it could mean that all the hard work is done and they are just awaiting orders from maniac dictator Kim Jong-un to test fire a nuclear weapon.

They come after speculation reported by MirrorOnline last week that Pyongyang is preparing for its sixth nuclear test at the North Portal of the Punggye-ri test site - amid a building political crisis between Pyongyang and Washington

The photographs were published by 38 North , the widely respected North Korea monitoring station at Johns Hopkins University in Maryland.

It has been observing changing activity at the site over the last eight weeks - around "the tunnel that North Korea appears to have been preparing for another nuclear test" - and the concern is that it could mean they are relaxing before the 'big day'.

38 North reports: "Imagery does show what may be three volleyball games underway at different locations throughout the facility, and possibly another volleyball net set up at the command center area."

Its analysts - Joseph S. Bermudez Jr., Jack Liu and Frank Pabian - claim that there could be two reasons for the unexpected activity at the test site:

1. The soldiers are on stand-by for an imminent nuclear test "with personnel being allowed some down-time for recreation"
2. Communist leader Kim Jong-un is fully aware of the satellite's flyby and this is part of a deliberate 'deception plan' - "delaying the sixth nuclear test until a time when a detonation would achieve the greatest political advantage".

There had been speculation that Jong-un intended to test fire a bomb - the biggest the country has ever tested - to coincide with the country's nationwide celebrations last Saturday, known as "The Day of the Sun".

He had been warned not to provoke action in the region by US President Donald Trump - with Washington already having warned it is "ready to hit back with nuclear attacks".

Pyongyang claims to have miniaturised nuclear warheads for use on missiles - and North Korea has been conducting a series of ballistic missile launches in recent months.

38 North reported: "Regardless, satellite imagery continues to indicate that the Punggye-ri nuclear test site appears able to conduct a sixth nuclear test at any time once the order is received from Pyongyang.

"Possible explanations for the most recent developments are the site and associated preparations for a sixth nuclear test have transitioned to a 'stand-by' status, with personnel being allowed some down-time for recreation.

North Korea 'will send snatch squad into South to kidnap Western tourists if US attacks'

"(Or) Pyongyang has initiated a tactical pause in activity at the test site as part of an overall deception plan, delaying the sixth nuclear test until a time when a detonation would achieve the greatest political advantage."

The US and South Korea held last month 'Warrior Strike 6' drills, which included disarming and securing simulated North Korean chemical weapons stockpiles.

(mirror.co.uk)

TOUGH-talking North Korea has threatened the US with ‘full out war’ as it’s claimed Kim Jong-un may have the technology to hit California with a nuclear missile.

Today’s worrying ‘war’ statement comes as the US supercarrier Carl Vinson heads back to the Korean Peninsula, which is already on a war footing.

AP:ASSOCIATED PRESS

AP:ASSOCIATED PRESS

The statement from North Korea’s Foreign Ministry reads: “The state of affairs on the Korean peninsula and the region are extremely perilous because of madcap American nuclear war manoeuvres aimed at trampling on our sovereignty and right to survival.

“Now that we possess mighty nuclear power to protect ourselves from US nuclear threat, we will respond without the slightest hesitation to full-out war with full-out war and to nuclear war with our style of nuclear strike, and we will emerge victor in the final battle with the United States.”

The threat comes as an expert has told how photographs from a recent North Korean military parade show the regime is closing in on having a nuke capable of hitting the US mainland.

U.S. NAVY

Michael Duitsman, of the Center for Nonproliferation Studies, pointed out a small but troubling detail on one of the massive missiles.

Duitsman told Business Insider that one weapon featured what looked like wound filament-reinforced plastic – a superlight alternative to metal that can withstand the incredible pressure of rocket motors.

“Part of the parade is them showing us what they’re working on,” Duitsman said. “They’re showing us their intentions.”

He said wound filament-reinforced plastic has up to 10 times the strength-to-density ratio of aluminium and could greatly reduce the weight of a missile – meaning it can fly further.

Referring to the booster portion of the missile as a stage, Duitsman said, “The lighter the stage is, the less propellant you need and the more you can put on top of it.”

In this case, a lighter missile could be used to carry a nuclear warhead capable of flying thousands of miles.

He revealed he Soviets and the US made similar breakthroughs when creating their ICBMs.

As rhetoric between the US and North Korea heats up, the residents of major west coast cities such as San Francisco, Portland and Seattle have begun top fear the worst.

However, denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula can still be achieved peacefully because of Washington’s new engagement with China, US Vice President Mike Pence said on Saturday, despite growing fears North Korea could soon conduct a new nuclear test.

GETTY IMAGES

South Korea is on heightened alert ahead of another important anniversary in the reclusive North that could be the trigger for a new nuclear test or launch of ballistic missiles, with a large concentration of military hardware massed on both sides of the border.

Tensions have risen sharply in recent months after Pyongyang conducted two nuclear weapons tests last year and carried out a steady stream of ballistic missile tests in defiance of United Nations resolutions and sanctions.

President Donald Trump has vowed to prevent North Korea from being able to hit the United States with a nuclear missile but his deputy said in Sydney on Saturday a peaceful outcome was still achievable because of warming ties between Beijing and Washington.

"We truly believe that, as our allies in the region and China bring that pressure to bear, there is a chance that we can achieve a historic objective of a nuclear-free Korea peninsula by peaceful means," Pence said.

"We are encouraged by the steps that China has taken so far," he said at a joint news conference with Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull.

Earlier this week, Trump praised Chinese efforts to rein in "the menace of North Korea" after North Korean state media warned the United States of a "super-mighty preemptive strike".

By James Pearson and Ju-min Park | SEOUL

North Korea said on Sunday it was ready to sink a U.S. aircraft carrier to demonstrate its military might, as two Japanese navy ships joined a U.S. carrier group for exercises in the western Pacific.

North Korea says its nuclear program is for self-defense and has warned the United States of a nuclear attack in response to any aggression. It has also threatened to lay waste to South Korea and Japan.

U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said on Friday North Korea's recent statements were provocative but had proven to be hollow in the past and should not be trusted.

"We've all come to hear their words repeatedly; their word has not proven honest," Mattis told a news conference in Tel Aviv, before the latest threat to the aircraft carrier.

Japan's show of naval force reflects growing concern that North Korea could strike it with nuclear or chemical warheads.

Japan's show of naval force reflects growing concern that North Korea could strike it with nuclear or chemical warheads. Some Japanese ruling party lawmakers are urging Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to acquire strike weapons that could hit North Korean missile forces before any imminent attack.

Japan's navy, which is mostly a destroyer fleet, is the second largest in Asia after China's.

The two Japanese warships, the Samidare and Ashigara, left western Japan on Friday to join the Carl Vinson and will "practice a variety of tactics" with the U.S. strike group, the Japan Maritime Self Defense Force said in a statement.

The Japanese force did not specify where the exercises were taking place, but by Sunday the destroyers could have reached an area 2,500 km (1,500 miles) south of Japan, which would be east of the Philippines.

From there, it could take three days to reach waters off the Korean peninsula. Japan's ships would accompany the Carl Vinson north at least into the East China Sea, a source with knowledge of the plan said.

U.S. and South Korean officials have been saying for weeks that the North could soon stage another nuclear test, something the United States, China and others have warned against.

South Korea has put its forces on heightened alert.

China, North Korea's sole major ally, opposes Pyongyang's weapons programs and has appealed for calm. The United States has called on China to do more to help defuse the tension.

Last Thursday, Trump praised Chinese efforts to rein in "the menace of North Korea", after North Korean state media warned the United States of a "super-mighty pre-emptive strike".

(Additional reporting by Tim Kelly in TOKYO and Ben Blanchard in BEIJING; editing by Ralph Boulton and Jason Neely)

(Reuters)