Netanyahu slams $57 million EU aid to Iran to offset US sanctions

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is not happy with millions of dollars of foreign aid the European Union is handing over to Iran, slamming the aid package as a "big mistake."

On Thursday, the EU Commission announced it would give Iran €18 million ($20.8 million), the first payment in what will be a €50 million ($57.9 million) payment meant to offset sanctions imposed by the United States and save the Iran nuclear deal negotiated by former President Obama and his European counterparts.

Netanyahu believes Iran will use the aid for weapons development and the Iran Revolutionary Guard Corps.

“I think that the decision yesterday by the EU to give 18 million euros to Iran is a big mistake,” Netanyahu said at a press conference in Lithuania, i24 News reported.

“It’s like a poison pill to the Iranian people and the efforts to curb Iranian aggression in the region and terror beyond the region."

“Where will the extra money go?” Netanyahu asked. “It’s not going to solve the water problem in Iran, it’s not going to go for Iranian truck drivers, it’s going to go to the missiles and Revolutionary Guard in Iran and Syria and everywhere else in the Middle East.”

Announcing the earmarks for Iran, EU high representative for foreign affairs Federica Mogherini said the aid "will widen economic and sectoral relations in areas that are of direct benefit to our citizens."

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