Tel Aviv - Israeli President Benjamin Netanyahu called for immediate, hard-hitting sanctions on Iran Sunday, following Tehran's revelation the day before that it had a second, previously unannounced, uranium enrichment plant. "If not now, when?" Israeli media reported Netanyahu as asking leading US officials in a telephone call.
The Israeli premier reiterated his demand for "crippling" sanctions on Iran, which Israel views as its most present threat in the Middle East.
Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman also said that the new enrichment plant, which Iran said was some 100 kilometres south of Tehran, was "without any doubt" for military and not civilian use.
The Jerusalem Post newspaper quoted an unnamed high-ranking official as saying that the latest revelation from Tehran would spur the international community to action.
"The free world has reached the last opportunity for engagement with Iran. We believe many Western countries now see that the Iranian mask is slipping," the official said.