US Special Representative for Iran Brian Hook (L) bumps elbows with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (R), at the Prime Minister’s Office in Jerusalem, Israel, June 30, 2020. Photo: Abir Sultan / Pool via Reuters.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday called for “snapback” sanctions to be implemented immediately on the Tehran regime due to its “provocations and violations.”

“I don’t think we can afford to wait,” Netanyahu told visiting US Special Representative for Iran Brian Hook at a meeting in Jerusalem. “We should not wait for Iran to start its breakout to a nuclear weapon, because when that happens it will be too late for sanctions.”

Iran, the Israeli leader charged, “deliberately deceives the international community.”

“It lies all the time,” he continued. “It lies on solemn pledges and commitments that it took before the international community. It continues its secret program to develop nuclear weapons. It continues its secret program to develop the means to delivering nuclear weapons.”

“Iran denies access to the IAEA inspectors to important sites, some of which we have uncovered through our own activity,” Netanyahu noted. “It continues its rampant aggression across the Middle East and beyond. It arms, trains, finances and dispatches terrorists.”

“We are absolutely resolved to prevent Iran from entrenching itself militarily in our immediate vicinity” he pledged. “We take repeated and forceful military action against Iran and its proxies in Syria and elsewhere if necessary. And I say to the ayatollahs in Tehran, Israel will continue to take these actions necessary to prevent you from creating another terror and military front against Israel in Syria.”

“We will do whatever is necessary to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons,” Netanyahu added.

Netanyahu also met in Jerusalem on Tuesday with US Special Representative for International Negotiations Avi Berkowitz and US Ambassador to Israel David Friedman to talk about the potential annexation of parts of the West Bank.

We “discussed the question of sovereignty, which we are currently working on and will continue to work on in the coming days,” Netanyahu said later.