Iran warns Israel: "our missiles will destroy you" THE top commander in Iran's powerful Revolutionary Guard warned yesterday that his country's missiles will ensure "nothing will remain" of Israel if it takes military action against Tehran over its controversial nuclear program. General Mohammad Ali Jafari also warned that Iran might close the Strait of Hormuz if it is attacked, withdraw from the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and hit US bases in the Middle East. Such warnings and references to Israel's destruction have been made before by Iranian officials. But Gen Jafari's comments to a Tehran news conference were an unusually detailed, strongly worded and comprehensive listing of the means that Iran says it has to retaliate against a strike on its nuclear facilities. Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu said yesterday that Iran was six to seven months away from being able to build a nuclear bomb, adding urgency to his demand that President Barack Obama set a clear "red line" for Tehran. Mr Netanyahu said that by mid-2013, Iran would be 90 per cent of the way toward enough enriched uranium for a bomb. He urged the US to spell out limits that Tehran must not cross if it is to avoid military action - something Mr Obama has refused to do. The US and Israel have left open the possibility of such a strike if Iran does not back down. Iran says its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes. Gen Jafari said: "Our response to Israel is clear: I think nothing will remain of Israel [should it attack Iran]. Given Israel's small land area and its vulnerability to a massive volume of Iran's missiles, I don't think any spot in Israel will remain safe. He said Iran's response to any attack will begin near the Israeli border. The Islamic Republic has close ties with militants in Gaza and Lebanon, both of whom have rocket arsenals that could be used for cross-border strikes. Jafari added that he did not believe, however, that Israel would attack on its own. Should the US launch a strike, Gen Jafari suggested that Iran could respond with missile salvos at US bases in the Gulf. The US military bases sprawled around Iran are considered a big vulnerability. Even the missile shields that they have set up, based on information we have, could only work for a few missiles but when exposed to a massive volume of missiles, the shields will lose their efficiency and will not work," he said. Gen Jafari warned that oil shipments through the strategic Strait of Hormuz will be in jeopardy if a war breaks out between Iran and the US Iranian officials have previously threatened to close the waterway, the route for a fifth of the world's oil. If a war breaks out where one side is Iran and the other side is the West and US, it's natural that a problem should occur in the Strait of Hormuz. Export of energy will be harmed. It's natural that this will happen," he said. Gen Jafari said that, if attacked, Iran will no longer be committed to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, under whose terms UN inspectors visit Iranian nuclear sites. He said, however, that this does not mean that Iran would build a nuclear weapon.