A senior commander of Iran's powerful Revolutionary Guard says the country will target NATO's missile defense shield in Turkey if the U.S. or Israel attacks the Islamic Republic.

Gen. Amir Ali Hajizadeh, the head of the Guards' aerospace division, is quoted by the semiofficial Mehr news agency as saying the warning is part of a new defense strategy to counter what it sees as an increase in threats from the U.S.¬ and Israel.

Open gallery view Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (R) shakes hands with Turkey's Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Istanbul May 9, 2011. Credit: Reuters

He says Iran will now respond to threats with threats rather than a defensive position.

Tehran says NATO's early warning radar station in Turkey is meant to protect Israel against Iranian missile attacks if a war breaks out with Israel.

Turkey agreed to host the radar in September as part of NATO's missile defense system.

Earlier Saturday, another Iranian defense official threatened retaliation against Israel if any of its nuclear or security sites are attacked.

"If Israeli missiles hit one of our nuclear facilities or other vital centers, then they should know that any part of Israeli territory would be target of our missiles, including their nuclear sites," General Yadollah Javani of the Revolutionary Guards told ISNA news agency.

"They (Israel) know that we have the capability to do so."

Javani, the former head of the military's political department, was referring to mounting speculation that Israel would strike Iran's nuclear facilities after the International Atomic Energy Agency said Iran had tested designs used to make nuclear warheads.

קרא כתבה זו בעברית: גנרל איראני: אם נותקף, נגיב גם על אדמת טורקיה



