Jerusalem. Photo: Berthold Werner.

Standing on Israeli soil, presumptive U.S. presidential candidate Mitt Romney on Sunday declared Jerusalem to be the capital of the Jewish state and said America has “a solemn duty and a moral imperative” to block Iran from achieving nuclear weapons capability, Israel Hayom reported.

“It is a deeply moving experience to be in Jerusalem, the capital of Israel,” Romney said on the Ninth of Av with the Old City as his backdrop.

The Republican candidate stressed that a different American response was needed to confront the danger posed by Iran to Israel. “Make no mistake: the ayatollahs in Tehran are testing our moral defenses,” Romney said. “They want to know who will object, and who will look the other way. My message to the people of Israel and the leaders of Iran is one and the same: I will not look away; and neither will my country.”

Romney said preventing Iran’s nuclear capability “must be our highest national security priority.”