"We will use all strike weapons at our disposal and the Shahab-3 missile is one of those," Shamkhani told reporters after a cabinet meeting when asked if Iran would retaliate with missiles if Israel made good its threats to take out Iranian nuclear sites.

Earlier this year, the air force of the hardline Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps took delivery of several domestically built Shahab-3 missiles, with a range of between 1,300 and 1,500 kilometres (between 800 and 1,000 miles), sufficient to reach Israel.

The Tel Aviv daily Haaretz Sunday quoted Israeli Defence Minister Shaul Mofaz as warning that the Jewish state was considering striking the nuclear facilities of Iran, now regarded as its archfoe, despite an agreement earlier this month to submit them to snap UN inspection.

If such attacks are launched, "the necessary steps will be taken so that Iranian citizens will not be harmed," the daily quoted Mofaz as saying.

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