Israel's top general warned the Biden administration against rejoining the 2015 Iran nuclear pact, adding he has ordered his forces to prepare for possible military action to block the Islamic republic's nuclear program, the Associated Press reported Wednesday.

The remarks by Lt. Gen. Aviv Kohavi are an apparent signal to U.S. President Joe Biden to carefully examine its moves in any diplomatic dealings with Tehran on a nuclear agreement negotiated by the Obama administration. Such comments by Israel's military chief on U.S. policymaking are rare and likely would have been pre-approved by the Israeli government.

Former U.S. president Donald Trump backed out of the nuclear accord in 2018, a decision that was welcomed by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who denounced the sanctions relief it offered and warned of the possibility of Iranian nuclear weapons development after the deal's expiration.

Biden has said he will first seek consultations with other countries that signed the deal, including France, Britain, Russia and China, as well as U.S. policy makers before any decision to rejoin the treaty.

But according to Kohavi, Iran can decide that it wants to "advance to a bomb, either covertly or in a provocative way ... we are studying these plans and we will develop them over the next year," Kohavi said in remarks quoted by the Times of Israel.

Iran dismissed the general's claims and said its nuclear activity is for peaceful purposes only.

Tehran resumed enriching its uranium stockpile to 20% last week, well in excess of the limit set out in the nuclear agreement with world powers and a short technical ascent from the 90% level of enrichment required to build weapons.