NEW YORK (MCT) — On what is expected to be his last visit to the United States as president of Iran, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Monday offered an expansive view of his nation’s place in history while dismissing Israel’s long-term viability as a state and its threat to strike Iran’s nuclear facilities.

Ahmadinejad ignored an admonition by U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to avoid incendiary remarks while he is in New York for the opening of the U.N. General Assembly, lashing out at Israel during a breakfast with journalists at the Warwick Hotel.