TEHRAN — Iran on Thursday urged the West to take action against Israel over the Jewish state's decision to build more settlements in east Jerusalem.

"The action taken by Western countries should no longer be theatrical but should be practical (and) put a stop to the Zionist regime's state terrorism," ISNA news agency quoted foreign ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast as saying.

Mehmanparast also slammed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for saying that demands for a settlement freeze were "unreasonable," and that "Jerusalem is not a settlement. It is our capital."

The Iranian spokesman said such a policy portrayed the "Zionist regime leaders' habit of aggression and occupation."

He called on the Organisation of Islamic Conference and Arab League to "seriously deal with the comments made by the Zionist regime leaders... and come up with real solutions to neutralise such approaches."

Tehran does not recognise Israel and Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has drawn international condemnation for repeatedly saying the Jewish state should be wiped off the map.

Israel captured east Jerusalem during the 1967 war and annexed it shortly after in a move not recognised by the international community. The Palestinians want east Jerusalem as the capital of their future state.

The diplomatic quartet -- the United States, Russia, the United Nations and the European Union -- met in Moscow on Friday and called on Israel to freeze settlement activity.

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