Iran's supreme leader announced Friday that his country will support any nation that confronts Israel.

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said the Jewish state is a "cancer" that "will be cut."

The supreme leader acknowledged that the Islamic Republic had provided assistance to terror groups like Lebanon's Hezbollah and the Palestinian Hamas.

"We have intervened in anti-Israel matters, and it brought victory in the 33-day war by Hezbollah against Israel in 2006, and in the 22-day war" between Hamas and Israel in the Gaza Strip, he said.
     
Khamenei's words come a day after Defense Secretary Leon Panetta told Washington Post columnist David Ignatius that Israel might attack Iran's nuclear facilities as early as April.

Click play for an updated report with CBN News' Mark Martin, followed by insight from CBN News Terrorism Analyst Erick Stakelbeck.
    
Panetta says the Obama administration has cautioned against an attack.
    
Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak says the world is becoming more aware that military action against Iran's nuclear program may be necessary.
    
He also said world leaders are beginning to see that sanctions might not work against the Islamic Republic and suggested a military option may be the only effective way to stop Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons.

*Originally aired on February 3, 2012.