Yisrael Katz
Yisrael KatzFLASH90

Israel's intelligence minister called Tuesday for a military coalition against Iran if the Islamic Republic were to defy world powers by enriching military-grade uranium.

Minister Yisrael Katz's remarks came as Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu began visiting European leaders to discuss Iran's recent attacks on Israel from Syria and via proxies including the Gaza Strip, and Iran’s nuclear program, both seen by the Jewish state as grave threats.

European powers have been scrambling to preserve the controversial Iran nuclear deal since US President Donald Trump announced Washington's withdrawal from the treaty in May.

Katz addressed Tehran's threat to restart uranium enrichment at an "industrial level" if the 2015 pact falls apart.

"If the Iranians don't surrender now, and try to return" to unsupervised uranium enrichment, "there should be a clear statement by the President of the United States and all of the Western coalition," he said.

"The Arabs and Israel surely would be there too."

The message should be that "if the Iranians return" to enriching uranium that could enable them to build a nuclear bomb, "a military coalition will be formed against them," Katz told Israeli public radio station Kan on Tuesday.

Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Monday warned European leaders to drop their "dream" of Tehran continuing to curb its nuclear program despite renewed economic sanctions.

He also called Israel a "malignant cancerous tumor" that should be removed.