Europe must take a firmer line with Iran over its controversial nuclear program, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Thursday at the start of a working meeting with EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton.

"We need to exert pressure on them. We're not talking about political spin but about the spinning of centrifuges," he said in remarks communicated by his office.

Russia believes it is time to consider relaxing sanctions pressure on Iran amid hope of progress in the standoff over its nuclear program, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov was quoted as saying Tuesday.

"It is necessary to avoid tightening the sanctions pressure against Tehran and start thinking about ways for a possible weakening (of sanctions) in a way that is tangible for Iran," Lavrov said in an interview with Kuwaiti news agency KUNA

Iran's ancient citadel of Bam, almost completely destroyed by a major earthquake in 2003, has been removed from the UNESCO list of "World Heritage in Danger", a spokesman said Tuesday.

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization committee, which began its annual session in the Cambodian capital Phnom Penh on Sunday, said there had been improvements in the site's management and conservation.

U.S. President Barack Obama said in an interview Monday that Iran's election result showed the country's people wanted to back away from confrontation with the outside world but ruled out for the moment lifting economic sanctions on Tehran.

"Well, I think it says that the Iranian people want to move in a different direction," Obama told PBS television's "Charlie Rose" show.

Canada's top diplomat accused newly-elected Iranian president Hassan Rowhani on Monday of being a "puppet" of the Islamic republic's religious leader.

The moderate cleric's victory raised hopes of eased ties with Western nations after years of tensions, but he used his first news conference to rule out a halt to Iran's controversial enrichment of uranium.

Germany said Monday there was an "urgent" need to find a solution over the Iranian nuclear program, calling for continued dialogue with President-elect Hassan Rowhani, a moderate cleric.

"A solution to this issue is urgent," foreign ministry spokesman Andreas Peschke told reporters.

Iran's newly-elected president Hassan Rowhani declared on Monday that his incoming government will seek to improve ties with regional rival Saudi Arabia, tarnished over differences about Syria's civil war.

"The priority of my government is to strengthen relations with neighbors... the countries of the Persian Gulf and Arab ones that are of strategic importance and our brothers," said Rowhani.

Hassan Rowhani Monday warned against foreign intervention in Syria, insisting that the strife-torn country's crisis should be resolved by its own people, in his first press conference since being elected Iran's new president.

"The Syrian crisis must be resolved by the people of Syria. We are against terrorism, civil war, and foreign intervention. Hopefully, with the help of all countries of the region and the world, peace and calm will return to Syria," the cleric said.

Iran's newly-elected president Hassan Rowhani ruled out on Monday any halt to the nuclear activity that has drawn U.N. sanctions but said he hoped an early deal could be reached to allay the concerns of major powers.

The moderate cleric, who won outright victory in Friday's presidential election on the hopes of millions for an end to the economic hardship caused by Western sanctions, pledged greater transparency in the long-running talks.

EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton pledged on Monday during a trip to Baghdad to press Iran for greater cooperation over its nuclear program after Tehran elected a new president.

Ashton also discussed the bloody conflict in Iraq's western neighbor Syria during talks with Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki and other top officials, including Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari and Deputy Prime Minister responsible for energy affairs Hussein al-Shahristani.