Netanyahu's Iran nuke claims fail to convince deal proponents

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's televised unveiling of an intelligence trove on Iran's alleged nuclear ambitions led to scepticism today from backers of a landmark 2015 accord, with European nations saying it showed the deal's importance.

The IAEA, the United Nations atomic watchdog, said it would evaluate any new relevant information, but cited its assessment from three years ago that it had no "credible indications" of an Iranian nuclear weapons pursuit after 2009.

Netanyahu's elaborate presentation live on television Monday night came ahead of a decision by US President Donald Trump, expected by May 12, on whether to withdraw from the nuclear agreement between world powers and Iran.

The Israeli premier said tens of thousands of documents recently recovered by intelligence operatives in Tehran proved his country's main enemy Iran had a secret nuclear weapons programme it could put into action at any time.

But the presentation that included props, video and slides immediately led to accusations from some that the White House and Netanyahu coordinated it as
European Union diplomatic chief Federica Mogherini said "I have not seen from Prime Minister Netanyahu arguments for the moment on non-compliance, meaning violation by Iran of its nuclear commitments under the deal."