Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stressed that Iran must be prevented from ever obtaining a nuclear weapon, saying that Tehran would use the bomb to “wipe out” Israel.

In a Fox News interview that was broadcast on Saturday, Netanyahu said that Iran had ramped up its efforts to create a nuclear weapon after its regional proxies were weakened, following extended fighting with Israel.

Iran “rushed to weaponize enriched uranium after the fall of Hezbollah and the collapse of the axis,” Netanyahu charged during the interview, which was filmed during the premier’s trip to Washington last week.

“We saw it. We said, within a year they will have a nuclear bomb, and they will use it,” Netanyahu added. “Unlike other nuclear powers, they will actually use it, and they will wipe us out.”

Netanyahu said that “Iran could have had a nuclear weapon within a year” had Israel and the United States not attacked the Islamic Republic’s key nuclear development sites.

The premier also stated that the Iranian regime is in “deep trouble” after being battered by the 12-day conflict with Israel.

An aide to a senior Iranian politician posted an image on Instagram of Israel after nuclear bombing, which showed a map of the Jewish State marked by large mushroom clouds.

The Jerusalem Post identified the poster as Mehdi Mohammadi, a strategic advisor to Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad-Bagher Ghalibaf.

According to a recent Reuters report, Netanyahu is dissatisfied with the outcome of the recent war and continues to push for the overthrow of the Islamic regime in Tehran.

The Israeli leader believes that “the time to strike harder is now, before Iran regains its footing,” the source told Reuters.

The premier views Iran as “unfinished business” from a “strategic” and “existential” perspective and believes that the war is “far from over,” several Middle Eastern officials and diplomats confirmed to the outlet.

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