In an interview with Fox News, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pointed out that Tel Aviv's three greatest current threats are "Iran, Iran and Iran."
"Everybody said after the nuclear deal that Iran coming out of the gate would be a more moderate, more peaceful country. The exact opposite has happened. Iran is trying to build an empire – an aggressive empire," he stressed.
According to Netanyahu, the repeal of anti-Iranian sanctions has allowed Tehran to obtain billions of dollars "to fund this aggressive empire to fund terrorism worldwide – to fund aggression."
READ MORE: Netanyahu: Israel to Counter Iran's Attempts to Establish Itself in Syria
"And I think it's important to prevent them from continuing these malevolent acts," he concluded.
Paying the Price
Separately, Iran's Fars News cited the country's senior military commander Gholam Ali Rashid as saying that Israel is unable to pay the "unimaginable" price for its confrontation with Tehran.
"Today, the Zionist regime has, more than in the past, understood the Islamic Republic of Iran's power in the region and will avoid testing it because it cannot manage confrontation against Iran and cannot bear its costs," he added.
Earlier this month, Netanyahu told the American Israel Public Affairs Committee Policy Conference that Tel Aviv will stop Iran from developing or building factories in Syria and Lebanon for the construction of missiles that would be used to attack Israel.
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In July 2015, Iran and the P5+1 group of nations, including Russia, the US, China, France and the UK plus Germany, signed the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, also known as the Iran nuclear deal.
The agreement envisages a step-by-step lifting of anti-Iranian sanctions in exchange for Tehran refraining from exploring military applications in pursuing its nuclear power generation program.
Israel, for its part, is concerned over the Iranian nuclear program and Tehran's alleged support for a spate of militant groups, such as Hezbollah. Tensions exacerbated further after the Israeli armed forces intercepted what they said was an Iranian drone and conducted a series of attacks on military objects in Syria.
