ISRAEL-USA/HUCKABEE US Republican candidate Huckabee says Iran deal 'unacceptable'

Record ID: 143366

  • Title: ISRAEL-USA/HUCKABEE US Republican candidate Huckabee says Iran deal 'unacceptable'
  • Date: 19th August 2015
  • Summary: JERUSALEM (AUGUST 19, 2015) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF CAMERAMEN FILMING (SOUNDBITE) (English) UNITED STATES REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE, MIKE HUCKABEE, SAYING: "To say backtrack I would simply from the very beginning of my presidency make it very clear that this deal is an unacceptable deal, for a peaceful future not just for the United States or Israel but for really all the world. This has not accomplished anything other then empowering a rogue nation -- a nation that has shown consistently it's intention to wipe other nations including America, right off the map." HUCKABEE DURING NEWS CONFERENCE (SOUNDBITE) (English) UNITED STATES REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE, MIKE HUCKABEE, SAYING: "It would be (unleashing the Iranian frozen capital) an extraordinary amount of money especially if a government had no honourable intentions, of spending it in a way that actually helped people who are poor, who are sick, who are hungry and rather whose first major action was to purchase new weapon system, delivery systems from the Russian government. This again is just a reminder that this is not a regime whose intentions are to become a partner to peace, this is a regime whose intentions have, for 36 years, to be a force of terror in the Middle East and throughout the world." REPORTER LISTENING (SOUNDBITE) (English) UNITED STATES REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE, MIKE HUCKABEE, SAYING: (When asked what Donald Trump's latest remarks) "You have to ask them, the one thing I'm no going to do is help Donald Trump get any more publicity then he is getting. He is getting 10 times to anybody else and I think he is doing well without my help." NEWS CONFERENCE IN PROGRESS
  • Embargoed: 3rd September 2015 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Jerusalem
  • City:
  • Country: Israel
  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVA7Y7HLN825ZJC979X8KUKTS1AR
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: United States Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee said on Wednesday (August 19) condemned the Iranian nuclear deal during a visit to Israel.
    Huckabee is one of more than a dozen candidates vying for the Republican presidential nomination.
    He started his Middle East tour on Tuesday (August 18) at the West Bank Jewish settlement of Shilo, where he reiterated his support for Israel.
    "I would simply from the very beginning of my presidency make it very clear that this deal is an unacceptable deal, for a peaceful future not just for the United States or Israel but for really all the world," he told a news conference.
    "This has not accomplished anything other then empowering a rogue nation -- a nation that has shown consistently it's intention to wipe other nations including America, right off the map."
    The Iranian defence minister said on Tuesday that Tehran will sign a contract with Russia next week to buy four S-300 surface-to-air missile systems.
    Russian state arms producer Almaz-Antey in June said it would supply Iran with a modernised version of the S-300, among the world's most capable air defence systems, once a commercial agreement was reached.
    Huckabee said the proposed weapons deal showed Iran's intentions.
    "It would be (unleashing the Iranian frozen capital) an extraordinary amount of money especially if a government had no honourable intentions, of spending it in a way that actually helped people who are poor, who are sick, who are hungry and rather whose first major action was to purchase new weapon system, delivery systems from the Russian government," Huckabee said.
    The former Arkansas governor drew criticism last month for comments in which he said U.S. President Barack Obama was marching Israelis "to the door of the oven," a reference to the Nazi gas chambers that killed millions of Jews in the Holocaust.
    Huckabee has been a regular visitor to Israel, where he has been embraced by right-wing politicians as one their country's staunchest supporters.
    He declined to comment when asked about rival candidate Donald Trump.
    Israel has called the nuclear agreement a threat to its survival and has urged U.S. lawmakers to reject the deal, saying it would give Iran a "sure path" to nuclear weapons.
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