Iran, preparing for its largest army exercise ever, said it was ready to attack Israeli and U.S. interests anywhere in the world.

Officials said the Islamic republic has warned of the consequences of an Israeli or U.S. attack on Iranian nuclear facilities. They said Teheran would not be limited to striking targets in the Middle East.

"If Israel or any other country attacks any site in Iran, we would not know of any limits in threatening their interests," Gen. Mohammad-Baqer Zolqadr, deputy commander of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps, said. "That means anywhere in the world, within their borders or outside them."

Officials said the Iranian Army was planning its largest exercise ever, Middle East Newsline reported. They said the exercise would take place over the next few weeks near the Iraqi border.

Zolqadr's warning, issued on the sidelines of a conference in Teheran on Monday, was the first time Teheran defined its threat to retaliate against Israel or the United States. Until now, Iran cited its intermediate-range Shihab-3 missile as a means for retaliation.

"We have the capability to mass produce Shihab-3 missiles," Defense Minister Ali Shamkhani said on Tuesday.

For his part, the deputy IRGC commander said Iran has formed a huge militia force to protect the country. He said the Basij militia numbered 10 million volunteers and could halt any U.S. military invasion.

"We have assessed the American armed forces in the wars of Iraq and Afghanistan," Zolqadr said. "They are no longer unknown or mystical to us."

Iranian Army Brig. Gen. Nasser Armanfar said on Monday that the ground force maneuvers, backed by combat aircraft, would take place in the provinces of Ilam, Kermanshah and Khuzestan. Armanfar said the exercise was designed to deter any foreign threat from Iraq or other neighbors.

"In the exercise, dubbed 'Followers of Velayat: Supreme Jurisprudent,' some 12 divisions of the army, four bases of the aviation service of the Ground Forces and the artillery unit will participate," Armanfar said.

The general said the major part of the exercise would consist of asymmetric warfare, such as guerrilla tactics and what he termed irregular defense. He said the army was prepared against any foreign attack.