MOSCOW (AFP)---Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday asked Russian President Dmitry Medvedev to back tough sanctions against Iran that would deal a crippling blow to its critical energy industry.
The Israeli leader expressed glowing satisfaction over his talks in the Kremlin with Medvedev, amid signs that Russia is finally losing patience with the Islamic Republic over Tehran's defiance in the nuclear crisis.
"What is needed now is biting sanctions that have the power to influence the regime, bitter sanctions that have to hit, in a convincing way, the (Iranian) oil industry, imports, exports and refining," Netanyahu told reporters after the talks.
"The Russian president expressed a full understanding of the issues that concern us," he added.
There was no immediate comment from the Russian side on the talks and it was not clear how far Medvedev, whose country is a permanent UN Security Council member, indicated he was prepared to back the Israeli demands.
But Russia has in recent weeks questioned the "sincerity" of Iran's pledges not to develop nuclear weapons and, in an apparent hardening of position, said fresh UN sanctions on Tehran were a "realistic" option.
A senior Israeli official said that during the meeting, they heard "things we have never heard before about the Russian view of the Middle East."
Iran is Israel's arch foe and the Jewish state accuses Tehran of trying to develop a nuclear weapon. By contrast, Russia has the strongest ties with Iran of any major power and has repeatedly urged restraint in the nuclear standoff
This is Netanyahu's first official trip to Moscow since taking office a year ago, but follows a clandestine visit in September, a secretive move that highlighted the key role Russia plays in the nuclear standoff.
As well as Medvedev, Netanyahu is due to meet Jewish community leaders later Monday and hold talks with Prime Minister Vladimir Putin on Tuesday, officials said.
Russia, one of the five permanent members of the Security Council with the power to veto any resolution, has in recent weeks toughened its stance towards Iran.
Russia has questioned the "sincerity" of Iran's pledges not to develop nuclear weapons and, in an apparent policy shift, said fresh UN sanctions on Tehran were a "realistic" option
It has also yet to fulfil a contract to deliver sophisticated S-300 missile systems to Tehran, a deal that worried Israel as it would significantly strengthen Iranian air defences against military action
But in a sign the talks in Moscow may not be entirely smooth, the deputy secretary of the Russian security council Vladimir Nazarov said Sunday that care must be taken to ensure sanctions do not "back Iran into a corner."
He added there was no reason not to send Iran the S-300 missile system, saying a "contract was signed which we must fulfil" and described any potential military attack against Iran as a "huge mistake"
Iran declared on Tuesday it had started the process of producing 20-percent enriched uranium, as the United States stepped up its efforts to pass a new round of sanctions against Tehran by the United Nations Security Council.
Israel, like the West, suspects Iran of trying to develop atomic weapons under the guise of its nuclear programme.
Israel considers the Islamic republic its top enemy after repeated statements by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad that the Jewish state was doomed to be "wiped off the map" and the scale of the Holocaust was exaggerated.
Bringing Moscow on board for harsher sanctions has been a key goal of Israel and the United States.
Russia has long-standing ties with Tehran and is helping to build Iran's first civilian nuclear power plant in the city of Bushehr, but Moscow says it is opposed to Tehran acquiring an atomic weapon.