A top Iranian commander has delivered a strong hint Iran could develop nuclear weapons if Israel were to launch an attack on its atomic facilities.

Ahmad Haqtalab, a Revolutionary Guards' officer who heads the nuclear protection and security corps, said Tehran could review its long-standing "doctrine and nuclear policies," in which Iran has insisted it is running an atomic program only for civilian — and not military — ends.

“If the fake Zionist regime intends to resort to the threat of attacking our nuclear facilities as a means to put pressure on Iran, reviewing the current doctrine and nuclear policies of the Islamic Republic and distancing from past considerations is possible and conceivable,” Haqtalab was quoted as saying the official IRNA state news agency.

His remarks are the latest in a string of warnings from Iranian officials to Israel, which is weighing its response to a barrage of 300 drones and missiles that Tehran launched toward Israeli territory over the weekend.

Iran has always insisted its uranium enrichment program is only intended for the production of electricity. Its senior leaders — many with memories of the use of chemical weapons against Iran in the 1980-1988 war with Iraq — have also said they oppose the development of weapons of mass destruction on moral and religious grounds.

Israel and many Western intelligence services, however, have countered that Iran's facilities go well beyond what is required for peaceful purposes and are working in tandem with its advanced ballistics projects.

Some diplomats argue Iran has been exacting diplomatic leverage by seeking to acquire "break-out" potential, when it has technology to weaponize. So far, it has held back from crossing that Rubicon through fear of a military escalation with Israel and the U.S.

Tensions in the Middle East are rising dramatically, with Western allies concerned about a large-scale escalation of the Israel-Hamas conflict urging Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to show restraint in his response to the Iranian attack. As Israel continues to mull its options, Netanyahu made some of his allies nervous this week when he said Israel would "make our decisions ourselves" and "do whatever is necessary to defend itself.”

Haqtalab said Tehran was "ready to face any threat from the Zionist regime in the vast land of Iran" and that Tehran would be able to take out Israel's nuclear facilities in case of an escalation.

"The nuclear centers of the Zionist enemy are identified and the necessary information about all targets is at our disposal, so to speak, to respond to possible action. The [Iranian forces] have their hands on the trigger to fire powerful missiles to destroy the targets identified, " he said.

The article was published in Politico. 

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