DHAKA: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has warned against working with the Iranian government.

In a speech to the UN General Assembly, he described President Hassan Rouhani as a "wolf in sheep`s clothing".

He said Israel would not allow Iran to develop nuclear weapons, even if it had to stand alone on the issue.

Iran replied that it had no intention of developing nuclear weapons, and called Mr Netanyahu`s comments "extremely inflammatory".

There has recently been a thaw in relations between the US and Iran, with Mr Rouhani and US President Barack Obama recently speaking on the phone together - the first top-level conversation between the two countries for more than 30 years.

But Obama assured Mr Netanyahu on Monday that the use of force was still on the table in dealing with Tehran`s nuclear programme.

Iran`s Foreign Minister, Javed Zarif, responded by criticising Mr Obama for what he termed "flip-flopping" on negotiations between the two nations.

Source: BBC
BDST: 0939 HRS, OCT 02, 2013
AKA/BSK