London: A speech by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in which he unveiled what he said was evidence of a secret Iranian nuclear weapons programme underlines the importance of keeping the 2015 Iran nuclear deal’s constraints on Tehran’s nuclear ambitions, Britain said on Tuesday.

‘The Iran nuclear deal is not based on trust about Iran’s intentions; rather it is based on tough verification, including measures that allow inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency unprecedented access to Iran’s nuclear programme,’ Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson said.

‘The fact that Iran conducted sensitive research in secret until 2003 shows why we need the intrusive inspections allowed by the Iran nuclear deal today,’ he added in a statement.

‘The verification provisions in the Iran nuclear deal would make it harder for Iran to restart any such research. That is another good reason for keeping the deal while building on it in order to take account of the legitimate concerns of the US and our other allies.’