Iran threatens to use 'weapons it has never used' in 'painful and severe' ... trends now

Iran has threatened to use 'weapons it has never used' in a 'painful and severe' response if Israel launches airstrikes in retaliation to Tehran's weekend salvo.

Israel earlier vowed that it will respond to Iran's unprecedented drone and missile attack, amid fears that the Middle East is teetering on the edge of an all-our war.

As the West urged for calmer heads to prevail in the Jewish state, Iranian Parliament's National Security Committee Abolfazl Amoue stated that Iran is 'prepared to use a weapon that we have never used' if Israel responds further.

Speaking on Monday, he said Israel should consider its next steps and 'act wisely.'

Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi also warned Israel it will face a 'painful response' if it takes the 'slightest action' in response to his country's attack.

The threats raise fears that Iran's lacklustre drone and missile barrage - 99 percent of which was intercepted by Israel and its allies - could further push Tehran to develop nuclear weapons.

Iran has several nuclear research sites, two uranium mines, a research reactor and uranium processing facilities - including three uranium enrichment plants.

A UN report in 2007 found that Iran had halted an alleged nuclear weapons programme in 2003, and a report from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in 2018 said it had found no evidence of nuclear weapons activity after 2009.

In 2015, Iran signed up to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action - or Iran Nuclear Deal - along with countries including the US, UK, France, Russia and China, imposing restrictions on Iran's nuclear facilities.

However, the agreement took a hit in 2018 when the US - under president Donald Trump - withdrew and imposed new sanctions on Iran under a 'maximum pressure' policy, essentially cutting Iran off from the international financial system.

In November 2023, an IAEA report estimated Iran's uranium stockpile was 22 times larger than the limit agreed upon in the 2015 Iran Nuclear Deal.

In December, the UN's watchdog warned that Iran had escalated the rate at which it is enriching uranium to up to 60 per cent purity, levels close to weapons-grade.

The report said Iran has enough uranium enriched to up to 60 per cent purity for three atom bombs by the International Atomic Energy Agency's definition. 

Its leaders have long maintained it 'does not need' nuclear weapons and is only enriching uranium for peaceful purposes.

However, for four decades, the Islamic Republic's rulers have pledged to destroy Israel, and Tehran's latest threat again raises the spectre of a nuclear-armed Iran.

Meanwhile, Tel Aviv has worked to stymie Iran's nuclear weapons programme - including the suspected assassinations of Iranian nuclear scientists.

United Nations nuclear watchdog chief expressed concerns on Monday about Israel potentially targeting Iranian nuclear facilities in retaliation, as he announced inspections paused on Sunday and Monday would resume nonetheless.

IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi said Iran closed its nuclear facilities temporarily over 'security considerations' and that while they reopened on Monday, he kept IAEA inspectors away 'until we see that the situation is completely calm.'

When asked about the possibility of an Israel strike on Iranian nuclear facilities, Grossi said: 'We are always concerned about this possibility.' 

He urged 'extreme restraint.'

Speaking to MailOnline on Monday before Iran's latest threat, Justin Crump - British army veteran and CEO of global risk analysis firm Sibylline, pointed to the nuclear threat posed by Iran when discussing Israel's possible responses.

'At the back of everyone's minds, though, is the nuclear issue,' he said.

'Iran has shown it can and will strike at Israel and those who have always held concerns about a nuclear capability will be speaking loudly in the coming days.'

In addition to its possible nuclear weapons programme, Iran has a vast array of missiles and other weapons in its arsenal that it could use to strike Israel.

Saturday's attack already demonstrated some such weapons, including cruise missiles and kamikaze drones - the likes of which have also been seen in Ukraine after Iran sent Russia Shahed 136 drones to be used in its continuing invasion there.

In fact, with more than 3,000 ballistic missiles - according to a US estimate - Iran has one of the largest missile stockpiles in the Middle East, and is believed to have nine types of missiles with enough range to reach Israel's territory.

What's more, Iranian authorities unveiled what the Tehran regime billed as its first domestically-made hypersonic ballistic missile last June.

Hypersonic missiles are defined as a missile that can travel five times the speed of sound, making them incredibly hard to detect and intercept.

In addition to its own stockpile, Iran also has several proxies across the region willing to do its bidding. These include Hamas in Gaza - who attacked Israel on October 7 sparking the on-going crisis, the Houthi rebels in Yemen and the powerful Hezbollah.

In their own right, Hezbollah - based in Lebanon on Israel's northern border - is a powerful fighting force in itself.

Financed by Iran and trained by Iran's Revolutionary Guard, the group's leader has claimed to have 100,000 trained fighters who have tanks and a vast weapons armoury at its disposal, much of which is maintained in neighbouring Syria.