The Iranian defense minister has warned that Donald Trump could trigger a world war and the 'destruction' of Israel and small Gulf Arab states if he provokes the Middle Eastern power.

Trump's election victory has raised the prospect the US will pull out of the nuclear pact signed by Barack Obama last year.

During his campaign, Trump was strongly critical of the agreement that saw Iran agree to limits on its nuclear program in exchange for the lifting of international sanctions on its oil industry and finances.

During his campaign, Trump, pictured with his wife Melania was strongly critical of the agreement that saw Iran agree to limits on its nuclear program in exchange for the lifting of international sanctions on its oil industry and finances

In September 2015, the billionaire told a crowd: 'Any commander-in-chief worthy of defending this nation should be prepared to stand up on 20 January 2017 [inauguration day] and rip to shreds this catastrophic deal.'

He also called the deal a 'disaster' and 'the worst deal ever negotiated'.

This has led to panic among US allies in the Gulf, Iranian Defense Minister Hossein Dehghan has claimed.

'Even though a businessman, the assistants that ... (Trump) has chosen may map a different path for him, and this has led to unease, particularly among Persian Gulf countries,' Dehghan told a security conference in Tehran, according to Iran's Mehr news agency.

Warning: Hossein Dehghan, Iran's defense minister has warned that strong action taken by Trump against his country could lead to a world war

'Considering Trump's character and that he measures the cost of everything in dollars, it does not seem likely that he would take strong action against our country,' he said.

'Enemies may want to impose a war on us based on false calculations and only taking into consideration their material capabilities...

'Such a war would mean the destruction of the Zionist regime (Israel) ... and will engulf the whole region and could lead to a world war,' Mehr quoted Dehghan as saying.

'Among other consequences of the war, would be the destruction of the city-states on the southern shore of the Persian Gulf, because they lack popular support,' Dehghan said, referring to small Western-allied Gulf states such as the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Qatar.

However Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has been a fierce critic of the agreement, hoped he could work with Trump to dismantle the deal.

He said: 'I know Donald Trump. And I think his attitude, his support for Israel is clear. He feels very warmly about the Jewish state, about the Jewish people.'

Pressed on what those options might be, Netanyahu said he had 'about five things in my mind', but did not elaborate.

John Brennan, the outgoing director of the CIA, last month warned that Trump's opposition to the Iran deal was the 'height of folly'.

'I think it would be disastrous,' he told the BBC. 'It really would: for one administration to tear up an agreement that a previous administration made would be almost unprecedented.'

He added that it 'could lead to a weapons program inside of Iran that could lead other states in the region to embark on their own programs with military conflict, so I think it would be the height of folly if the next administration were to tear up that agreement.'

Jacob Parakilas, an expert on US foreign policy at the London-based think tank Chatham House, told Reuters: 'It's difficult to see the advantage for the US in abrogating the deal at this stage.

'It would be nearly impossible to convince Europe, Russia and China to restore their sanctions on Iran int he absence of clear evidence of Iranian violations of the deal. So any sanctions to the US restored would have much less impact on the Iranian economy.

THE IRAN DEAL: WHAT TRUMP SAID ON THE CAMPAIGN TRAIL I hate seeing President Obama today saying that “Iran has violated our agreement”. I mean what did he think? He’s now complaining about Iran violating the agreement. What the hell did he think? He’s like a baby. He’s like a baby. Now can you imagine, the agreement’s two seconds old. The ink isn’t even dry. I hear Obama is very unhappy with Iran because he feels they haven’t lived up to the “spirit of the agreement”. What the hell did he think was going to happen? They defaulted on day one. I mean they were doing things on day one and everyone is telling him. He said “that can’t be possible”. That’s the way life works. These are vicious people... But the saddest part of that deal is so much of this money is already gone. Just gone. $150billion right out the tubes. And what do we get? We got nothing. We got nothing. They got they money and the prisoners should have been released years ago before we started negotiating. Advertisement

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has been a fierce critic of the agreement, hoped he could work with Trump to dismantle the deal

Iran has long backed armed groups committed to Israel's destruction and its leaders have called for it to be wiped off the map.

Israel fears Iran's nuclear program is designed to threaten its existence.