The head of the Iranian army warned on Monday that Israel will bring about its own demise if it makes the smallest of mistakes and will not survive for more than 25 years, Iran's Tasnim news agency reported Monday.

Maj. Gen. Abdolrahim Mousavi added that any mistake on Israel's part would result in Haifa and Tel Aviv being razed to the ground, the Iranian news site said.

In a report that did not quote the general directly, the news agency said Mousavi warned that "Israel should remain silent and count down the days to its death, because any minor mistake would lead to its demise as fast as lightning." The new agency stressed that, in the general's view, "the notion that the Zionist regime of Israel will not be existing 25 years from now does not mean that it would have a full time span of 25 years to live."

Referring the Israeli government as "Tel Aviv," the report stated the general as saying: "Tel Aviv would be signing its own death warrant by making the tiniest mistake over its remaining lifetime."

The Tehran-based Tasnim news agency describes itself on its website as "defending the Islamic Revolution against [the] negative media propaganda campaign and providing our readers with realities on the ground about Iran and Islam."

Iranian officials have in the past made similar statements.

Israel and Iran have been arch-rivals since the Islamic revolution in the country. Netanyahu has repeatedly warned against its nuclear activities, which he says pose an existential threat to Israel and the world, and was one of the most vocal critics against the landmark nuclear deal reached between Teheran and world power.