Iran warns 'attack on nuke facilities would lead to collapse of Israel'

Tehran, Feb 26 (ANI): A senior Iranian official has warned Israel against launching an attack on its nuclear facilities in the wake of rising international tension over Tehran's uranium enrichment programme.

General Ahmad Vahidi, Iran's Minister of Defense, and former commander of the Revolutionary Guards, issued a statement warning Israel that an attack on Tehran would lead to the collapse of the Jewish state.

According to The Guardian, the warning on Iran's state-run Press TV website came after a UN report pointed out that the Islamic nation had significantly stepped up its production rate of enriched uranium over the past four months.

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) found that much of the increased production of uranium, enriched to the level of 20 percent, had taken place at an underground site known as Fordow.

The UN nuclear watchdog's inspectors also found that Iran had stepped up the installation of centrifuges at its main uranium enrichment plant in Natanz. Over the past three months, 2,600 new centrifuges have been brought into operation, spinning uranium gas.

Iran's warning follows increasingly tough rhetoric from Israel about the need to halt Iran's nuclear development.

Israeli officials believe a pre-emptive strike must happen because Tehran is moving more of its nuclear installations underground. (ANI)