Prime Minister Netanyahu during his first Persian language interview. Photo: Screenshot.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday appealed directly to the world’s Persian-speaking population to pressure Iran’s leaders to seek a diplomatic solution to end economic sanctions on the regime because of its pursuit of nuclear weapons.

In his first interview on Persian-language television, Netanyahu told BBC Television’s Persian Service that it is the ayatollahs’ extremist regime which is responsible or the harsh sanctions and the socio-economic situation in Iran due to its efforts to achieve nuclear weapons which endanger the peace of the entire world. He also stressed the historic friendship between the Jewish and Persian peoples, two ancient peoples that had close relations until the rise of the ayatollahs’ regime.

According to BBC estimates, 12 million weekly viewers tune in to its broadcasts, which Iran has unsuccessfully tried to ban.

In the interview, Netanyahu presented the host with a copy of Iranian President Hassan Rouhani’s book, “National Security and Nuclear Diplomacy,” and highlighted citations, written by Rouhani, that show how he oversaw the policy of deliberately misleading the West in order to allow Iran to continue with its military nuclear program in a relaxed diplomatic atmosphere.

“We are not sadeh-lowh (suckers). I will welcome an effort to stop the nuclear program but not harf-e pootch (a fake one),” Netanyahu said, using Persian words for impact.

According to a statement from his office, Netanyahu said that if the Iranian regime has nuclear weapons, the Iranian people will never be free of dictatorship and will live in eternal servitude. He added that the Iranian people are paying a steep price for the military nuclear program which the regime claims it does not have. He asserted that while Israel wants a diplomatic solution, it must be a full and genuine solution. He said that he had seen the Iranian people’s desire for change and democracy and concluded by pointing out that Jewish and Iranian peoples could be friends again if the present regime falls.

Watch a clip from the interview below: