"Today the Islamic republic has missiles with a range of more than 2,000 kilometres (1,250 miles) and... all the land of the Zionist regime, including its nuclear installations, is within our range," Mohammad Ali Jafari, the head of Iran's Revolutionary Guards Corps, told the ISNA news agency.

Jafari's comment came amid sustained speculation that Israel has the ability to target Iranian nuclear plants.

Jafari said Iran can "firmly retaliate" if attacked.

"The doctrine of our system is defensive but, if any action is taken by the enemy, including the Zionist regime, we can firmly retaliate," he said.

However defence analysts question the accuracy of Iran's longer-range missiles, particularly the Shahab-3.

Israel has a major nuclear facility at Dimona in the Negev desert, at which it is widely believed to have developed a nuclear arsenal.

Israel maintains a policy of neither confirming nor denying a nuclear capability but it is widely suspected to have more than 200 warheads.

Iran does not recognise its archfoe Israel and has repeatedly predicted its demise.

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