Former Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu appeared on "On The Record With Greta Van Susteren" for a lengthy, two-part interview Wednesday evening.
The opening discussion on Newsmax covered the specter of Russian President Vladimir Putin threatening the use of nuclear weapons to end his country's war with neighboring Ukraine.
The second part chronicled a closer-to-home nuclear threat for Netanyahu: Iran.
A decade ago, Netanyahu said the Iranian government was "on the floor, suffering from sanctions" levied against the country.
But then, certain Western powers — including the United States — "gave it all away," Netanyahu added.
Netanyahu was referring to the so-called Iran Nuclear Deal from 2015.
The Iran Nuclear Deal, or Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action pact from 2015 (JCPOA), was created under then-President Barack Obama.
As part of the pact, Iran agreed to eliminate its stockpile of medium-enriched uranium and also cut its stockpile of low-enriched uranium by 98%.
In return, the Iranian leaders reportedly collected $150 billion from other countries, including the U.S.
And now, there's been substantive talk of the Biden administration reviving the Iran deal.
"I don't think anything will stop Iran [from acquiring a nuclear weapon]," said Netanyahu. "First of all, they cheat. They cheat every time ... so [a deal including atomic-agency oversight] would be meaningless."
Netanyahu then remarked about how the Iranians are well known for chanting "Death to America," yet the JCPOA deal "gave them hundreds of billions of dollars in relief."
From Netanyahu's perspective, there are two tangible components to deterring Iran for the long term: levying "crippling" sanctions against the government and having a "credible military option" to keep Iran in check.
Citing one example of a rogue country becoming very dangerous to the world, Netanyahu said North Korea recently had "everyone in Europe shaking in fear" from its missile launch test over Japan.
"And over time," if unchecked, "North Korea might be able to [hypothetically] reach the United States with a nuclear weapon," said Netanyahu.
After lamenting North Korea's actions, Netanyahu praised former President Donald Trump for making the U.S. military the world's top deterrent against rogue dictators.
And now, Netanyahu believes the globe requires similarly strong leadership from a Western power.
"You have to have the capacity to stop Iran" when the country gets aggressive, said Netanyahu.
At this point of the interview, Netanyahu, who's running for prime minister again, was pressed on how he plans to deal with Iran, if elected Israel's premier once again on Nov. 1.
As detailed in his new autobiography, "Bibi, My Story," Netanyahu said he'd prefer a band of world powers coming together to thwart Iran's nuclear interests.
However, if that doesn't happen, Netanyahu would be prepared to protect Israel from Iran at all costs.
"As prime minister, I'll make sure that Iran doesn't get a nuclear weapon," said Netanyahu, while adding that Iran having atomic capabilities "isn't the same as Holland having access to a nuclear weapon."
The threat of worldwide destruction is far greater in Iran's hands, said Netanyahu.
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