"It will not escalate the conflict, it will end it," Netanyahu said in an interview with ABC, commenting on media reports that US President Donald Trump rejected an Israeli plan to kill Iran's supreme leader, out of concern that it would lead to an escalation of the conflict.

"We've had half a century of conflict spread by this regime that is terrorizing everyone in the Middle East, bombing Aramco oil fields in Saudi Arabia, spreading terrorism, subversion and sabotage everywhere.

"'Eternal war' is what Iran wants, and they are bringing us to the brink of nuclear war. In fact, what Israel is doing is to prevent this, to end this aggression, and we can only do that by opposing the forces of evil," Netanyahu said.

Asked if Israel would indeed target Iran's supreme leader, Netanyahu said Israel was"doing what it has to do."

"I won't go into details, but we targeted their top nuclear scientists. It's basically Hitler's nuclear team," Netanyahu said.

He added that it is in America's interest to support Israel in its efforts to eliminate Iran's nuclear program.

"Today is Tel Aviv. Tomorrow is New York. Look, I understand 'America first'. I don't understand 'America is dead.'

The Israeli prime minister rejected a report by the Wall Street Journal, which reported earlier today, citing diplomatic sources, that Iran had signaled to its partners that it wanted to end hostilities and resume negotiations on its nuclear program.

"I'm not surprised. I mean, they want to continue these bogus talks where they're lying, cheating, dragging the United States of America. And, you know, we have very solid intelligence on that. They want to continue to build their nuclear weapons and their massive arsenal of ballistic missiles, which they fire at our people. They want to continue to create two existential threats against Israel as they talk. That's not going to happen," Netanyahu said.

He pointed out that"Israel is also fighting against the American enemy".

In the early morning hours of June 13, Israel attacked military and nuclear targets in Iran, explaining that it was a way to prevent that country from acquiring nuclear weapons, and Iran retaliated with airstrikes against Israel.