Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday called for retaining the international sanctions currently imposed on Iran despite the recent election of a new moderate President, warning that the control of Tehran's disputed nuclear program remains in the hands of extremist ruling clerics.
Netanyahu made the remarks while addressing his Cabinet for the first time after Hassan Rohani, who is widely hailed as a moderate, was declared elected in Friday's presidential election. It was the Israeli PM's first public response to Rohani's victory.
"The international community must not become caught up in wishful thinking and be tempted to relax the pressure on Iran to stop its nuclear program," Netanyahu was quoted as saying at the weekly Cabinet meeting in a statement issued by his office on Sunday.
Netanyahu stressed that the Israelis "are not deluding ourselves" in the wake of Rohani's election, noting that the Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and other hardline clerics had earlier disqualified candidates they disagreed with from the presidential race. He said it was Khamenei who determines Iran's nuclear policy, and not the country's President.
"Iran will be judged on its actions. If it insists on continuing to develop its nuclear program the answer needs to be clear - stopping its nuclear program by any means. The greater the pressure on Iran, the greater the chance of bringing a halt to the Iranian nuclear program, which remains the greatest threat to world peace," Netanyahu added.
Rohani, a moderate Shia cleric, was elected as the new Iranian President in the June 14 elections in which over 72 percent of the eligible voters cast their votes. Rohani secured 50.70 percent votes, just crossing the minimum required to avoid a run-off.
Rohani will now succeed Mahmoud Ahmadinejad after Khamenei ratifies the election outcome on August 3. After the results were announced on Saturday, Rohani hailed his election as a "victory for wisdom, moderation and maturity... over extremism."
The President-elect had stressed during his campaign that he would make every possible efforts to ease sanctions imposed on Iran over its disputed nuclear program. He also pledged greater engagement with Western powers if elected.
Iran's nuclear program has been a matter of international concern since the discovery in 2003 that the country had concealed its nuclear activities for 18 years in breach of its obligations under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).
Iran insists that its nuclear work is intended for peaceful civilian purposes, but the West suspects the claim to be a cover-up for the country's nuclear weapon ambitions. Iran is currently reeling under four rounds of U.N. sanctions as well as separate sanctions imposed by the U.S. and its allies over Tehran's refusal to halt uranium enrichment.
Israel remains convinced that Iran is attempting to make nuclear weapons under the cover of its civilian nuclear program. The Jewish nation has already warned that it would launch pre-emptive strikes on Iranian nuclear targets if the ongoing international diplomatic efforts aimed at persuading Tehran to roll back on its nuclear program are unsuccessful.
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