A war of words between Israel and Iran escalated on Tuesday after Tehran informed the UN’s nuclear watchdog it was beginning the process of increasing its capacity to enrich uranium.

Yisrael Katz, Israel's intelligence minister, called for a military coalition against Iran if the Islamic Republic was to defy the world powers who signed a nuclear deal with Iran.

"If the Iranians don't surrender now, and try to return" to unsupervised uranium enrichment, "there should be a clear statement by the President of the United States and all of the Western coalition," he said.

The message should be that "if the Iranians return" to enriching uranium that could enable them to build a nuclear bomb, "a military coalition will be formed against them," Mr Katz told Israeli public radio.