Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held his first face-to-face talks with French President Francois Hollande Wednesday to push for tougher sanctions against Iran over its nuclear program.
Netanyahu was on a two-day visit to France, a permanent member of the UN Security Council and one of the six world powers leading nuclear talks with Iran.
Hollande said after his meeting with Netanyahu he wanted "concrete acts and gestures" from Iran to show it was not pursuing nuclear arms, adding that he backed "other sanctions" if Tehran failed to do so.
"This is a threat which cannot be accepted by France," he said, addressing a joint press conference with Netanyahu. "We have voted for many sanctions and are ready to vote others as long as necessary."
Since taking office five months ago, Hollande has only spoken to Netanyahu by telephone but met Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas twice, both times in Paris.
Netanyahu enjoyed close ties with Hollande's predecessor Nicolas Sarkozy until the latter reportedly called him a "liar" in November last year during a private conversation with US President Barack Obama.
Their talks focused on the international standoff over Iran's nuclear program, Israeli officials said.
"France is a very important country in the Western alliance which is dealing with the Iranian bomb," a senior Israeli official told AFP.
Iran's Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Tuesday that his country is hopeful about the "success" of the next round of nuclear talks with world powers, Press TV said.
Araghchi expressed optimism that the next round of negotiations between Iran and the P5+1 would be based on "goodwill and would end up in success."
Israel's Defense Minister Ehud Barak told Britain's Daily Telegraph newspaper Tuesday that Iran has drawn back from its ambitions to build a nuclear weapon, while warning that his country may still have to decide next year whether to launch a military strike against it.
He said an immediate crisis was avoided when Iran chose to use more than a third of its medium-enriched uranium for civilian purposes earlier this year. He told the paper that the decision "allows contemplating delaying the moment of truth by eight to ten months."
Netanyahu's meeting with Hollande also touched on ways to revive Israeli peace talks with the Palestinians. Hollande said that Israel and Palestine must resume "unconditional" talks
"The only real bone of contention between Netanyahu and Hollande is the absence of negotiations with the Palestinians and Israel's continued settlement" policy, said Denis Charbit, professor of political science at Israel's Open University.
Agencies