Iran has threatened to build a nuclear bomb if it is attacked by Israeli forces in retaliation for its first ever direct attack on Israel on Saturday.

Tehran also warned it would hit Israeli atomic facilities if Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, ordered strikes against Iran’s nuclear sites.

Iran launches a missile at a test site. Tehran has promised to retaliate if Israel attacks the Islamic nation's nuclear sites.

The Israeli government is considering its response to Iran’s attack, which involved hundreds of missiles and drones but caused minimal damage after most were shot down.

Experts say Tehran, which is stockpiling uranium, is closer to having the bomb than at any point in history, and could have one in six months to a year.

The Iranian regime has always insisted its nuclear programme is for civilian purposes.

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the Supreme Leader, has issued a fatwa against the production of nuclear weapons.

But Brig Gen Ahmad Haghtalab, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) commander in charge of nuclear security, said on Thursday that could change if Iran was attacked by Israel.

“A review of our nuclear doctrine and politics as well as considerations previously communicated is entirely possible,” he said.

It is the first time Iran has explicitly mentioned its suspected nuclear weapons programme since it attacked Israel.

The IRGC general warned Iran would “definitely” reciprocate any Israeli attack on its nuclear sites.

“If the Zionist regime (Israel) wants to take action against our nuclear centres and facilities, it will definitely and surely face our reaction,” he told Iran’s state news agency.

“For the counter-attack, the nuclear facilities of the (Israeli) regime will be targeted and operated upon with advanced weaponry.”

Iran has “identified” Israeli nuclear centres and holds “necessary information of all targets”, he added.

“Hands are on the trigger to fire powerful missiles for the total destruction of determined targets,” Mr Haghtalab said.

On Thursday, Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, the Iranian Foreign Minister, warned that Tehran would make Israel “regret” any attack on his country.

“In case of any use of force by the Israeli regime and violating our sovereignty, the Islamic Republic of Iran will not hesitate a bit to assert its inherent rights, to give a decisive and proper response to it, to make the regime regret its actions,” he told the UN Security Council during a meeting on the Middle East.

A history of tension over nuclear weapons

The Islamic republic has accused Israel of sabotage attacks on its facilities and assassinations of nuclear scientists in recent years.

On Monday, Rafael Grossi, the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, said Iran had closed its nuclear facilities to inspectors “for security reasons” after the attack.

Israel is widely known to have nuclear weapons but has never admitted so.

Israel’s military chief has vowed a response to the Iranian aerial attack. The Iranian warning came after Mr Netanyahu said Israel reserves “the right to protect itself”.

World leaders have urged de-escalation and restraint and Israeli officials have not said when or where the country would retaliate.

The Israeli leader is under pressure from hardliners in his coalition government to hit Iran hard to deter further aggression against Israel in a region thrown into tumult by the Oct 7 attacks by Hamas.

Tehran’s attack on Israel, launched late Saturday, was in retaliation for the April 1 airstrike on the Iranian consulate in Damascus that killed seven members of the IRGC, including two generals.

Amirali Hajizadeh, commander of the IRGC’s aerospace unit that led the attack on Israel, said on Thursday that Iran had only used “old weapons and minimal power!” for it.

“At this stage, we have not used” ballistic missiles, he said, arguing Iran has “overcome the maximum capacity” of Israel and its allies “with minimal power”.