President Shimon Peres addressed the Iranian threat Thursday in a speech before the annual Jerusalem meeting of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations.

“The state of Israel is a sovereign one and it has the right and the ability to defend itself from every threat,” he said. “When we say all options are on the table, we mean it!”

“A nuclear Iran is a strategic threat not only on Israel but on the entire world. Iran is a center of moral corruption and world terror,” he added.

Peres may have been trying to carry out “spin control” following a report in Haaretz, according to which he intends to tell President Barack Obama that he opposes an Israeli raid on Iran. 

“Recently, we have seen an escalation of the sanctions against Iran under the leadership of President Obama and we witnessed his ability to lead a coalition with partnership from Europe and other countries against Iran,” Peres said. “I appreciate this and I know full well that those partners share our outlook [and favor] stepping up sanctions while at the same time keeping all options open.”

The President added that he had spoken with the leaders of Russia, France and Germany and got the feeling that “they are well aware of the great danger in the combination of the ayatollahs’ leadership and their possession of a nuclear bomb.”