Israel PM demands US set 'red line' over Iran nuclear programme

The Israeli prime minister, Binyamin Netanyahu, has renewed his demand that the US set out clear "red lines" for Iran over its nuclear programme, in remarks likely to put further strain on his relationship with Barack Obama in the runup to the presidential election.

In interviews on American television networks to mark the Jewish New Year, Netanyahu repeated his call for the US to clarify the point at which it would take military action rather than allow the Iranian nuclear programme to advance.

"You have to place that red line before them now, before it's too late," Netanyahu told NBC's Meet the Press programme on Sunday. Iran would be on the brink of nuclear weapons capability by next spring, he warned.

He also sought to link Iran's nuclear programme to the murder last week of the US ambassador to Libya. "Iran is guided by a leadership with an unbelievable fanaticism," he said. "It's the same fanaticism that you see storming your embassies today. You want these fanatics to have nuclear weapons?"