WASHINGTON (AP) – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (neh-ten-YAH’-hoo) says an extension of nuclear talks with Iran should be used to increase pressure on Iran to give up its atomic weapons ambitions and capabilities.
Netanyahu says it’s fortunate that international negotiators did not meet last month’s deadline for a deal because he says any agreement reached then “would have effectively left Iran as a threshold nuclear power.”
Negotiators have extended talks until July 2015, with the goal of reaching a framework for a deal by the end of March.
The prime minister says it’s imperative to use the time available “to increase the pressure on Iran to dismantle its nuclear weapons capability.”
Netanyahu made his comments in a videotaped addressed to a Mideast policy conference in Washington.