Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu urged Britain on Thursday to condition its restoration of full diplomatic ties with Tehran on Iran ending its calls for the destruction of Israel.
Netanyahu’s comments to the Financial Times came during a whirlwind of six interviews Thursday morning with key media outlets in Britain, France and Germany.
Those three countries, along with the US, Russia and China, are part of the “P5+1” that will begin negotiating with Iran in Geneva on Tuesday.
“Iran is calling for the annihilation of the Jewish state and of a member state of the UN,” Netanyahu said. “It seems sensible that Britain would say, ‘Before we reestablish diplomatic relations, abandon this.’” Britain and Iran announced interim steps this week aimed at reopening their respective embassies, closed since 2011 when the British Embassy compound in Tehran was overrun by rioters.