Prime Minister Ehud Olmert plans to use a visit to Germany beginning on Sunday to lobby for tougher measures to force Iran to curb a nuclear programme he has called a threat to Israel's existence.
"Israel believes that this is the time for more pressure on the regime in Tehran. It's time to upgrade the economic and diplomatic pressure," said a senior Israeli official, who declined to be named.
"This has to be done, obviously, at the United Nations, but also bilaterally," said the official, urging countries that have economic interests in Iran "to exert their own pressure".
Germany has traditionally been among the top exporters to Iran, sending 4.1 billion euros of goods in 2006. The United States has accused Iran of having a secret programme to build nuclear weapons, a charge Tehran denies. The Israeli official said the Iranian issue would likely "play a large part" in Olmert's talks on Tuesday with Chancellor Angela Merkel. A German government spokesman also said Iran would be a major topic of discussion.
Last month, Germany joined the five permanent UN Security Council members - Britain, the United States, France, Russia and China - in circulating a proposal for a third sanctions resolution against Iran calling for mandatory travel bans, asset freezes and vigilance on all banks in the Islamic Republic.
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