Special Report: Iran Nuclear Crisis

    TEHRAN, June 28 (Xinhua) -- Commander of Iran's Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) Major General Mohammad Ali Jafari warned Israel against launching any attack on the Islamic republic, an Iranian newspaper reported on Saturday.

    Israel "is completely within the range of the Islamic republic's missiles" and it cannot confront Iran's missile power, Jafari told Iran's Jam-e Jam newspaper.

    "The enemy possibly wants to delay our nuclear activities by attacking our nuclear sites, but any interruption would be very short since Iranian scientific ability is different from that of Syria and Iraq," he said.

    The Iranian Revolutionary Guards chief also said his country would impose controls on shipping in the Gulf oil transit route if it came under attack.

    "Naturally when a country is attacked by an enemy, it will use all of its capabilities to confront the enemy," Jafari said. "We will definitely impose control on the Persian Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz."

    The New York Times reported that U.S. military believed a major military exercise by Israel earlier this month was a rehearsal for a potential bombing attack on Iran's nuclear sites.

    Some American officials said the Israeli exercise appeared to be an effort to develop the military's capacity to carry out long-range strikes and to demonstrate the seriousness with which Israel views Iran's nuclear program.

    More than 100 Israeli F-16 and F-15 fighter jets participated in the maneuvers, which were carried out over the eastern Mediterranean and Greece during the first week of June, U.S. officials said.

    The exercise also involved Israeli helicopters that could be used to rescue downed pilots. The helicopters and refueling tankers flew more than 1,450 km, which is about the same distance between Israel and Iran's uranium enrichment plant at Natanz, American officials said.

    A spokesman for the Israeli military said Israel's air force " regularly trains for various missions in order to confront and meet the challenges posed by the threats facing Israel," declining to discuss details of the exercise.

    Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, who visited Washington in early June, said "the Iranian threat must be stopped by all possible means," indicating that military resort can not be excluded.

    His remarks about Iran's nuclear threat are believed to be the strongest ever the Israeli leader has made on the issue.