[caption id="attachment_154127" align="alignright" width="148"] Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addresses a joint meeting of Congress in the House Chamber on Capitol Hill, March 3, 2015.
CREDIT: REUTERS/GARY CAMERON[/caption]

Iranians closely monitored Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s address — so they could condemn it.

Netanyahu’s roughly 40-minute speech before Congress wasn’t carried live in the Middle Eastern nation, but it received plenty of media attention there, CNN reported.

TV banners in Tehran called the address an example of “Iranaphobia.”

“This speech was a sign of the weakness and extreme isolation of radical groups,” Iranian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Marzieh Afkham said, labeling it “a deceitful theater play.”

“The continued lies of Netanyahu regarding the aims and intentions of the peaceful nuclear program of Iran are repetitive and sickening,” she added.

Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif told reporters he thinks Netanyahu is trying to directly influence nuclear negotiations between Iran and the United States.

“I don’t think trying to create tension and conflict helps anyone,” he said.

An Iranian vice president dismissed the prime minister’s speech entirely, saying his message won’t make much of a difference.

“I don’t think [Netanyahu’s voice] carries much weight,” Massoumeh Ebtekar, vice president for environmental affairs, told Agence France-Presse.

“They are making their efforts to derail the deal, but I think the more logical lobbies on both sides are looking forward to a solution.”

In Israel, many politicians showed their support for Netanyahu, praising the “moving” speech.

“The people of Israel stand behind Netanyahu, especially after such a moving speech,” Bayit Yehudi party leader Naftali Bennett said in Washington, according to The Jerusalem Post.

But opposition leaders weren’t as impressed.

“The truth is that the speech, as impressive as it was, did not prevent a nuclear Iran and won’t impact a deal that is being drafted — not on its content, nor on its timetable,” Zionist union leader Isaac Herzog said.

By New York Post