DHAKA: Mortified that the world may be warming up to Iran, Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu is taking an unpopular message to the White House and the United Nations this week, don’t be fooled by Tehran’s new leadership.

Netanyahu contends Iran is using conciliatory gestures as a smoke screen to conceal an unabated march toward a nuclear bomb.

He will deliver those strong words of caution, and fresh intelligence, in an attempt to persuade the US to maintain tough economic sanctions and not allow the Islamic republic to develop a bomb or even move closer to becoming a nuclear threshold state.

With the White House cautiously optimistic about its dialogue with Iran, Monday’s meeting between Netanyahu and president Barack Obama could be tense.

‘I will tell the truth in the face of the sweet talk and the onslaught of smiles,’ Netanyahu said before boarding his flight to the US on Sunday.

‘Telling the truth today is vital for the security and peace of the world and, of course, it is vital for the security of the state of Israel.’

BDST: 1722 HRS, SEPT 30, 2013
RoR/Jck