A deadly explosion at a missile development plant last month has not affected Iran's ballistic missile programme, its top general said in comments published on Saturday.

Armed forces chief of staff General Hassan Firouzabadi said the death of Iranian military experts at the Bid Ganeh base outside Tehran on November 12 "had no effect on the self-sufficiency unit" of the elite Revolutionary Guards -- responsible for weapons research, the Resalat newspaper reported.

"The forces and military weapons of the Islamic republic, including ballistic missiles, are more than ready to confront the enemy," he said.

The blast killed at least 36 members of the elite Revolutionary Guards, including a key figure in Iran's ballistic missile programme, Major General Hassan Moqaddam.

Firouzabadi reiterated repeated assertions by Iran that the blast was accidental, suggesting that safety measures may have been neglected.

Iranian commanders "who have experienced dangerous situations (during the 1980-88 war with Saddam Hussein's Iraq)... do not take safety measures seriously," he said.

Following the blast, Firouzabadi had said that work at the plant had been delayed by only two weeks as a result.

But commercial satellite photographs of the facility released by a private Washington institute suggested the explosion had caused serious destruction, with some buildings completely razed.

"The entire facility was essentially destroyed," said Paul Brannan, a senior analyst at the Institute for Science and International Security (ISIS), which posted the images this week.

"It looks like almost half of the buildings are gone and what's left are the skeletons of the buildings. I would call that a complete destruction of the facility," Brannan, who wrote an analysis of the pictures, told AFP on Wednesday.

The plant appears to have been used for the development of a new long-range ballistic missile, according to fragmentary reports published by Iranian media.

Following the blast, Firouzabadi said the base was being used for the production of an unspecified "experimental product" that could be used against the United States or Israel.

General Moqaddam's brother, Mohammad, himself a Guards commander, spoke of a "project related to intercontinental ballistic missiles," which "was in its final phase" and was "completely hi-tech and secret" -- in remarks he later retracted.

The Islamic republic already possesses several types of medium-range missile, some capable of reaching Israel or US bases in the Middle East -- both stated targets for retaliation in the event that Iranian facilities are attacked.

Iran's ballistic programme, which along with its nuclear activities is subject to UN sanctions, has created worries in the international community that Tehran could succeed in producing missiles capable of delivering an atomic warhead.

Tehran denies any such ambition and says its nuclear programme is for civil energy and medical purposes only.

Israel's Livni urges US to step up Iran sanctions
Jerusalem (AFP) Dec 3, 2011 - Israeli opposition leader Tzipi Livni urged US Defence Secretary Leon Panetta to ratchet up sanctions against Iran "without delay," a statement from her Kadima party said on Saturday.

It said that the two met in Washington on Friday. Israeli media said that the meeting took place before Panetta delivered a speech urging Israel to break out of growing regional "isolation" by repairing diplomatic ties with Egypt and Turkey, and renewing peace efforts with the Palestinians.

"The world needs to stop Iran," the Kadima statement quoted Livni as telling Panetta. "Stronger, tougher sanctions are required without delay."

Israel and much of the international community fear that Iran's nuclear programme masks a drive for a weapons capability. Tehran denies any such ambition and says the programme is for peaceful civilian energy and medical purposes only.

In his comments on Friday to the Brookings Institution's Saban Centre for the Middle East, a Washington think-tank, Panetta vowed to prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons, saying the Obama administration had not ruled out possible military action.

But he warned of the potential downside of any strike, which he said could actually strengthen the Tehran regime while not necessarily destroying all targets.

The Pentagon chief said he understood Israel's anxieties over turmoil in the Middle East but said the Arab Spring offered an opportunity for the country to forge a more secure place in the region.

It was crucial for Israel to reach out and "mend fences" with countries such as Turkey, Egypt and Jordan that share an interest in regional stability, said Panetta, who issued similar appeals in a visit to the region in October.

Israel also needed "to lean forward on efforts to achieve peace with the Palestinians," Panetta said.

Livni said that neutralising Iran and making peace with the Palestinians were both factors for Middle East stability.

"The struggle against a nuclear Iran, and renewed movement in negotiations with the Palestinians will strengthen the pragmatic camp in the region," she told Panetta.