European signatories to the Iran nuclear deal said Benjamin Netanyahu’s claims about Tehran’s alleged atomic weapons programme confirmed why the accord aimed at curbing the country’s nuclear ambitions was needed in the first place.

Israel’s prime minister on Monday delivered a televised speech which claimed to provide proof about Iranian deception in the lead-up to the 2015 accord, where Iran pledged to rein in enrichment of nuclear fuel in exchange for sanctions relief. The speech — in English — was widely seen as another attempt to convince US president Donald Trump to rip up the agreement.

France, which has led European effort to convince Mr Trump to renew the deal, on Tuesday said that while the documents provided by Mr Netanyahu should be looked at, the claims “presented by Israel strengthen the relevance of the accord”.