Israeli PM Netanyahu at his weekly cabinet meeting. Photo: Screenshot.

Israeli Prime Minster Benjamin Netanyahu warned at the start of his weekly Cabinet meeting on Sunday that if world powers allow Iran to retain uranium enrichment capabilities they will help the country become a “nuclear threshold state,” a scenario strongly opposed by Israel.

Speaking out once again against Iran’s nuclear program, Netanyahu said the county has not altered any of its policies and still wants to expand its nuclear program. His comments come shortly after talks between Iran and the P5+1 nations over the country’s nuclear program resumed in Vienna. Negotiations are geared towards reaching a permanent agreement with the Islamic Republic following the framework deal reached in November.

“I view with concern that fact that Iran believes that it will realize its plan to be a nuclear threshold state, with an enrichment capacity that it thinks cannot be touched, with the ability to develop both nuclear weapons and inter-continental missiles, which it is continuing to work on unhindered,” he said. “This combination of enrichment, weapons and launch capabilities, says that Iran is, in effect, receiving everything and giving almost nothing. This is the current situation.”

A permanent agreement with Iran “must dismantle the Iranian ability to either produce or launch nuclear weapons,” Netanyahu said. Such a compromise has yet to be achieved and will not come about without the backing of major world powers, he added.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel will arrive in Israel on Monday and will meet with Netanyahu to discuss the talks with Iran among other topics.