Iran to hold war games to protect nuclear facilities

By Fredrik Dahl and Hashem Kalantari

TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iran's military said it will begin large-scale air defence drills on Sunday, and a cleric in the Revolutionary Guards warned that the Islamic Republic would fire missiles at "the heart of Tel Aviv" if attacked.

The war games, due to last five days, are intended to help protect Iran's nuclear facilities, Iranian media reported, citing Brigadier General Ahmad Mighani.

The statements came a day after senior officials from six world powers said they were disappointed Iran had not accepted proposals intended to delay its potential to make nuclear weapons, and urged Tehran to reconsider.

The United States, Russia, China, Germany, Britain and France met after U.S. President Barack Obama warned there could be a package of sanctions against Iran within weeks.

The United States and Israel have not ruled out military action if diplomacy fails to resolve the row over Iranian nuclear work that the West suspects is aimed at making bombs.

Iran, which says its nuclear programme is solely to generate electricity, has threatened to hit back at Israel and U.S. bases in the Gulf if it is attacked.

"If the enemy should want to test its bad luck in Iran, before the dust from its missiles settles in this country, Iran's ballistic missiles would land in the heart of Tel Aviv," said cleric Mojtaba Zolnour, IRNA news agency reported.

Zalnour is a deputy of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's representative in the Revolutionary Guards, who will be staging the defence drills together with the regular armed forces.