United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has warned Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of the “potentially harmful consequences of inflammatory rhetoric, counter-rhetoric and threats from various countries in the Middle East.”

So far, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has continued to thumb his nose at the West and Israel and told CNN “Zionists are at the end of the line.”

On Sunday, Iran’s Brigadier General Amir Ali Hajizadeh told Iran’s Arabic-language television network, “In circumstances in which they (the Israelis) have prepared everything for an attack, it is possible that we will make a pre-emptive attack. But we do not see this at the moment.”

Ahmadinejad will deliver his annual speech at the opening fall session of the United General Assembly on Wednesday, which coincides with the Yom Kippur holiday.

In the past, he has used the podium of the United Nations to launch a tirade against Israel, which Iran calls the “Zionist regime,” and the United States.

Ban met with Ahmadinejad to try to convince him to tone down his remarks this year. The secretary “general’s press office said in a statement that Ban “drew attention” to the consequences of incitement.

He also spoke with the Iranian president about the war in Syria, where Iran is directly aiding Syrian President Bashar Assad, and Tehran’s nuclear program, which Ahmadinejad insists is for peaceful purposes.”

“The secretary-general stressed the grave regional implications of the worsening situation in Syria and underlined the devastating humanitarian impact,” the statement said, according to AFP.