Do more to pressure Iran

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and US President Donald Trump's national security adviser met in Jerusalem yesterday and called on European nations to do more to pressure Iran.

John Bolton arrived in Israel on Sunday for three days of talks expected to focus mainly on Iran and its presence in Syria.

Netanyahu strongly urged Trump to withdraw from the nuclear deal between Israel's main enemy Iran and world powers, and the US president did so in May, resulting in the re-imposition of sanctions.

Israel and the United States have been closely aligned on their approach to Iran since Trump took office.

"I frankly believe that all countries who care about peace and security in the Middle East should follow America's lead and ratchet up the pressure on Iran," Netanyahu told journalists.

"Because the greater the pressure on Iran, the greater the chance that the regime will roll back its aggression. And everybody should join this effort."

The comments were a veiled reference to European countries, which are seeking to save the nuclear deal and have vowed to keep providing Iran with the economic benefits it received from the accord.

They argue that the nuclear deal is working as intended in keeping Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons for now.

Bolton said "it's a question of the highest importance for the United States that Iran never get a deliverable nuclear weapons capability."

"It's why President Trump withdrew from the wretched Iran nuclear deal," he said, speaking alongside Netanyahu.

Meanwhile, Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif has said in an interview with CNN The US has an "addiction to sanctions".