Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday called on London and Washington to join efforts "against Iran's aggression" ahead of his visits to the United Kingdom and the United States.

TEL AVIV (Sputnik) — Earlier in the day, the Israeli Prime Minister set off for the United Kingdom to meet the country's leadership on Monday. Netanyahu is also expected to hold a meeting with US President Donald Trump on February 15.

"I think that the most important thing at the moment is that countries like the United States, which will take the lead, Israel and the United Kingdom line up together against Iran's aggression and set clear limits to it. This will be the first issue, among many, that I will discuss with UK Prime Minister Theresa May and, of course, with Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson," Netanyahu said ahead of the flight.

Netanyahu added that the transition of power in both the United States and the United Kingdom created new diplomatic opportunities and he planned to discuss improvement of relations between these countries and Israel.

"I intend to speak with them about tightening relations between each side and Israel and trilaterally. This is what I will do next week in Washington and in London tomorrow," the prime minister added.

The relations between Israel and Iran have been strained since the Iranian Revolution in the late 1970s. The ties are overshadowed by a number of issues, including Tehran's nuclear and missile programs accompanied by controversial anti-Israeli statements of high-ranking Iranian officials, such as former Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

The tensions around Iran have escalated since late January after the test of ballistic missile by Tehran, which has been criticized by officials in both the United States and the European Union.