Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon said Friday that Iran’s nuclear program must be stopped on way or another, warning that a stronger Islamic Republic means a stronger Hezbollah and Islamic Jihad.

On an official visit to Canada to meet with his counterpart Robert Nicholson in Ottawa, Ya’alon added that Iran must be prevented from operating under a “nuclear umbrella [which would] allow it to advance its terror operations, for example, using a ‘dirty bomb’ on Western targets around the world.”

“We must not be patient and allow Iran to become a nuclear state,” Ya’alon said. “One way or another, Iran’s military nuclear program must be stopped. We must continue with harsh sanctions on the diplomatic front while presenting a credible military threat.”

“We stand before a bad deal [in Geneva], after which Iran will still be allowed to preserve its [uranium] enrichment capabilities and operate without pressure.A strengthened Iran is a strengthened Hezbollah and Islamic Jihad. These are groups that present a threat to the West and to us, ” warned the defense minister.

Ya’alon’s comments came just as nuclear talks between the P5+1 world powers and Tehran were set to resume for a third day in Geneva Friday.

On Thursday, a second day of nuclear talks in Geneva ended with both sides indicating substantive issues still stood in the way of a deal between Iran and the six world powers.

The day saw negotiators try to fine-tune a draft agreement that would limit Tehran’s atomic program in return for easing some sanctions. Iran’s ability to produce nuclear fuel and relief for Iran’s oil and banking sectors appeared to be among the sticking points.

Renewed opposition from influential members of the US Congress to any deal they feel gives the Iranians too much for too little complicated the diplomatic maneuvering. The Democratic-led Senate signaled Thursday it would only give President Barack Obama until next month before pressing ahead with new Iran sanctions, and a key Republican introduced legislation to limit the president’s future negotiating ability with Tehran.

Participants at the talks refused to spell out what was standing in the way of a deal. But Iranian statements and remarks from Western officials suggested they included finding mutually acceptable language on whether Iran has a right to enrich uranium, a technology that can produce both reactor fuel and nuclear warhead material.

Sanctions relief was also an issue.

The talks group six world powers and Iran. But negotiators for the six — the United States, Russia, China, Britain, France and Germany — were reduced to a side role Thursday, with top European Union diplomat Catherine Ashton shuttling between them and Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif as the two tried to chip away at differences.

As the talks moved into evening, Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi told Iranian state TV that the two sides had “common viewpoints in many cases, while there are serious differences in some cases.”

He said talks included possible ways to reduce sanctions on Iranian oil sales and banking.

A member of the Iranian delegation said his country recognizes that core oil and banking sanctions could not be lifted immediately but suggested Iran was looking for some relief over six months of the first-step agreement.

He also indicated that Iran was ready to discuss a limit on its uranium enrichment but said Iran wants some mention of its right to uranium enrichment — something the United States and its allies have long resisted. The delegation member demanded anonymity because he was not authorized to comment on the closed negotiations.

On the world powers side, Ashton spokesman Michael Mann said she is determined to narrow the differences between the sides, according to a Voice of America report.

“It was a real meaningful, detailed, substantial negotiation trying to drill down into the details of the text to try and narrow the differences that still existed after the last round,” Mann said.

The United States and its allies have signaled they are ready to ease some sanctions in return for a first-step deal that contains Iran’s nuclear program. But they insist that the most severe penalties — on Tehran’s oil exports and banking sector — will remain until the two sides reach a comprehensive agreement to minimize Iran’s nuclear arms-making capacity.

Iran says it does not want such weapons and has indicated it’s ready to start rolling back its program but wants greater and faster sanctions relief than that being offered.

In Moscow this week  to meet with President Vladimir Putin, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu renewed his demand for a halt to all Iranian nuclear programs that could be turned from peaceful uses to making weapons.

Israel wants a settlement that is “genuine and real,” he said.

“Israel believes that the international community must unequivocally ensure the fulfillment of the UN Security Council’s decisions so that uranium enrichment ends, centrifuges are dismantled, enriched material is taken out of Iran and the reactor in Arak is dismantled,” Netanyahu said, referring to Iran’s plutonium reactor under construction.

“They must not have nuclear weapons,” he told a gathering of Russian Jews. “And I promise you that they will not have nuclear weapons.”