Put more pressure on Iran, Israeli PM tells EU’s Ashton

TEHRAN,June 22(MNA) – Europe must take a firmer line with Iran over its nuclear program, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Thursday at the start of a working meeting with EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton, AFP reported. “We need to exert pressure on them. We’re not talking about political spin but about the spinning of centrifuges,” he said in remarks communicated by his office. “It must stop and I think it is up to Europe to join the United States and Israel and all the other elements in the international community in demanding a halt to Iran’s nuclear program.” Ashton leads diplomatic efforts to resolve the decade-old nuclear dispute on behalf of the six major powers, namely the United States, China, Russia, Britain, France, and Germany, which are known as the P5+1 group. Ashton’s visit comes just six days after the election of moderate Hassan Rohani as Iran’s new president in what analysts have said could sooth tensions with the West over Tehran’s nuclear program. But Israel has refused to be mollified, with Netanyahu earlier this week warning the world not to “be tempted to ease pressure on Iran.” In response, Ashton acknowledged the importance of consulting with Netanyahu about the situation in Iran after the elections, the premier’s office said. “The real test regarding the elections in Iran will be if Iran changes its policy and stops enriching uranium, removes the nuclear material, and closes the illegal nuclear facility (in) Qom,” Netanyahu said. The main bone of contention between Tehran and the West is Iran’s uranium enrichment program. Iran says all its nuclear activities are totally peaceful, and, as an International Atomic Energy Agency member and a signatory to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, it has the legal right to produce nuclear fuel for its research reactors and nuclear power plants.