Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says sanctions imposed on Iran are important but so far haven't been effective.
Netanyahu said Thursday that the Iranian president's guided tour of centrifuges at a Tehran research reactor on Wednesday was proof that sanctions have not properly crippled Iran's efforts to develop nuclear capabilities.
The Israeli leader was speaking to reporters in Cyprus, where he was meeting officials on a brief visit to discuss cooperation on energy and other matters.
Israel has been a vocal supporter of an international campaign to halt Tehran's nuclear program by imposing sanctions on its central bank and oil exports. Like the West, Israel accuses Iran of pursuing nuclear weapons. Tehran insists that its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes.
Israel's deputy prime minister, Moshe Yaalon, told Israel Radio on Thursday that Iran's ceremonious TV broadcast the previous day, featuring President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad touring a Tehran research reactor, was a sign of weakness.
He says it was much more about symbolism than substance and that Iran is feeling the brunt of sanctions against its central bank and oil exports.
Yaalon says: "We are seeing reactions that are, in some ways, hysterical."
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