Addressing the UN General Assembly, Netanyahu said: "Above all -- above all -- Iran must face a credible nuclear threat."

"As long as I'm prime minister of Israel, I will do everything in my power to prevent Iran from getting nuclear weapons," Netanyahu said.

His office later said that he had misread his speech and meant "credible military threat" instead of "credible nuclear threat."

"It was misread as credible nuclear threat. The prime minister stands by the original text of the speech," the prime minister's office said.

Israel has a widely known but undeclared nuclear program.

Tehran denies seeking a nuclear bomb but has breached limits on uranium enrichment set in a US-brokered 2015 deal following former president Donald Trump's withdrawal from the agreement and reimposition sweeping sanctions.