Iran must be prevented from obtaining nuclear weapons capabilities, Ofir Akunis, consul general of Israel in New York, said Sunday on Newsmax.
But it will be up to President Donald Trump, not Israel, to make decisions about any potential U.S. military action, he said.
Tehran, however, has not signaled it is prepared to compromise in diplomatic talks, Akunis told Newsmax's "Sunday Report."
"We can see that the Iranians, the evil empire, the ayatollahs, want to keep their nuclear weapons and their intercontinental missiles," he said.
Akunis said Israel believes Iran still retains nuclear-related capabilities, even after what he referred to as an operation in June.
"We know, according to our intelligence and your intelligence as well, there are still capabilities, unfortunately," he said.
He urged the United States and other Western nations to prevent Iran from maintaining either a nuclear weapon capability or long-range missiles.
"And the world, the Western world needs to know that the ayatollahs cannot hold the nuclear weapon or the intercontinental missiles in the future," Akunis said.
Akunis also questioned the premise of continued negotiations if Iran insists on keeping both programs.
"They are saying, OK, we want to keep the missiles and the nuclear weapons," he said. "So what is the negotiation for? It's a question."
Asked about Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's planned meeting with Trump this week, Akunis said Iran would be central to the discussions, particularly if U.S.-Iran talks continue.
"I think that Iran will be on the table because the negotiations, negotiation between the United States and Iran, is supposed to continue as far as we know until now," he said.
Meanwhile, Akunis said that there is a ceasefire between Hamas terrorists and Israel, but Hamas is failing to meet the conditions tied to the next phase of an agreement.
"The second phase of the agreement is that they will demilitarize Gaza, no weapons," he said.
Akunis claimed Hamas has continued attacks and still possesses weapons and tunnel infrastructure.
"They tried to attack our soldiers, soldiers yesterday, two days ago, last week," he said. "So they still have their light weapon and even 60% of the tunnels that the Qataris built for them with their own money."
Akunis also discussed New York City's Mayor Zohran Mamdani, saying he believes attacks have increased since he took office in January.
Akunis said he wants Mamdani to make a clear statement recognizing Israel.
"He must recognize Israel as the homeland of the Jewish people ... he cannot say, I'm not antisemitic, but I'm not recognizing the homeland of the Jewish people, period," said Akunis.
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