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Tehran finances terrorism, poses a global threat and must never be allowed to obtain nuclear weapons, Israeli the Foreign Ministry said in response to the speech of new Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi to the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) on Tuesday. 

"Raisi continues to fool the international community in a speech filled with lies and cynicism," the Foreign Ministry said after Raisi spoke by video at the opening session of the annual UNGA gathering, The Jerusalem Post reported. 

"Iran’s ayatollah regime constitutes a clear and immediate threat to the Middle East and world peace," it added. 

"The new government in Iran, headed by the “Butcher of Tehran” Raisi, and consisting largely of ministers suspected of [committing acts of] terrorism and [whose names are] on global sanctions lists, is the extremist face of a regime that has brought harm to Iranian citizens for over forty years. Iran encourages and finances terrorism, which is destabilizing the entire Middle East," the Foreign Ministry said. 

"The international community must condemn the Iranian regime and prevent any possibility of nuclear capabilities and weapons falling into the hands of these extremists."

The Islamic Republic does not recognize Israel and never refers to it by name. At the UNGA, Raisi said that "the occupier Zionist regime is the organizer of the biggest state terrorism whose agenda is to slaughter women and children in Gaza and the West Bank."

His speech, however, focused on presenting Iran as a moderate positive force in the region and on painting the United States as a country that is at war with the world, the source said.