Iran says war games in Gulf a warning to Israel

The war games Iran staged in the Gulf this week should be a warning to Israel, the country's top military commanders said on Friday amid concerns over possible Israeli plans to attack Iranian nuclear facilities.

Ballistic missiles and cruise missiles, among other things, were fired at the War Games of the Revolutionary Guards. At the end of the exercises on Friday, state television showed how missiles flattened a target that resembled the Israeli Dimona nuclear reactor.

"With a simulation of the Dimona nuclear facilities, the Revolutionary Guards successfully attacked this critical center of the Zionist regime during their missile exercise," said the semi-official Tasnim news agency.

"These exercises had a very clear message: a serious, genuine ... warning to the threats by the Zionist regime authorities to beware of their mistakes," the head of the Garden, General Hossein Salami, said on state television.

"We will cut off their hands if they make a wrong move ... The distance between actual operations and military exercises is just a change in the angle at which the missiles are fired," Salami added.

Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces Major General Mohammad Bagheri said 16 ballistic missiles of different classes were fired simultaneously and destroyed predetermined targets.

Britain condemned the launch of ballistic missiles during the war games.

"These actions are a threat to regional and international security, and we urge Iran to stop its activities immediately," the Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

The Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh dismissed the British statement as "meddling in Iran's defense capabilities," state media reported.

Iran claims its ballistic missiles have a range of 2,000 km (1,200 miles) and are capable of reaching archenemy Israel and US bases in the region.

Iran has one of the largest missile programs in the Middle East and regards such weapons as an important deterrent and retaliatory measure against the US and other adversaries in the event of war.

Israel, which opposes the efforts of the world powers to revive the 2015 nuclear deal with Tehran, has long threatened military action if diplomacy fails. Iran claims its nuclear ambitions are peaceful.

Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz has called on the world powers not to allow Iran to play for a limited time in the nuclear negotiations, which have been suspended at Iran's request and are due to resume next Monday.

Israel is widely recognized as the only country in the Middle East with a nuclear arsenal.