Iran warns of ‘heavy price’ after report of US-Israeli military drill plans

TEHRAN: A top Iranian military official warned on Saturday of a "heavy price" for aggressors, state media said, after a report of US and Israeli plans for possible military drills to prepare for strikes against Iran's nuclear sites if diplomacy fails.

"Providing conditions for military commanders to test Iranian missiles with real targets will cost the aggressors a heavy price," Nournews, affiliated with Iran's top security body, said on Twitter, citing an unnamed military official.

A senior US official said that US and Israeli defence chiefs were expected to discuss possible military exercises that would prepare for a worst-case scenario to destroy Iran's nuclear facilities should diplomacy fail and if their nations' leaders request it.

The scheduled US talks with visiting Israeli Defence Minister Benny Gantz follow an Oct. 25 briefing by Pentagon leaders to White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan on the full set of military options available to ensure that Iran would not be able to produce a nuclear weapon, the official said on Wednesday, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Iran denies seeking nuclear weapons, saying it wants to master nuclear technology for peaceful purposes.

The US-Israeli preparations, which have not been previously reported, underscore Western concern about difficult nuclear talks with Iran that President Joe Biden had hoped would revive a 2015 nuclear deal abandoned by his predecessor, Donald Trump.

But US and European officials have voiced dismay after talks last week at sweeping demands by Iran's new, hardline government, heightening suspicions in the West that Iran is playing for time while advancing its nuclear programme.