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ground forces chief Brigadier General Kiomars Heidari said on Monday that has developed an advanced long-range suicide drone "designed to hit Israel's Tel Aviv, Haifa", the semi-official Mehr news agency reported.

The director of Israel's Mossad spy service, , warned Iran's clerical rulers against "resorting to force against Israel or Israelis".

"The top Iranian echelon must be aware that resorting to force against Israel or Israelis, directly from Iran or via proxies, will meet a painful response against those responsible – on Iranian soil," Barnea said in a speech at Reichman University near Tel Aviv on Monday.

"This will happen in Tehran, in Kermanshah, in Isfahan," he added, referring to areas of Iran where authorities have reported sabotage operations against facilities or personnel linked to the country's military or nuclear programmes.

Israel is widely acknowledged to have the Middle East's only nuclear arms, though has never declared its arsenal.

sees Iran as a existential threat and says it will attack Iranian nuclear sites if diplomacy fails to contain Tehran's nuclear ambitions.

Iran has vowed a "crushing" response to any Israeli aggression.

(Reuters)