Iran will give "destructive" response if its nuclear program is attacked by the arch foe Israel, a Foreign Ministry spokesman vowed in Tehran yesterday.

"If Israel takes such a stupid step, the answer of Iran will be rapid, firm and destructive," Mohammad-Ali Hosseini told a press conference.

"Israel does not have the means and the capability to dare threaten Iran," he said, adding "if it commits such stupidity, the Islamic republic and its defenders will give a destructive response within a second."Hosseini, meanwhile, confirmed Iran's plan to install 3,000 centrifuges for uranium enrichment by March 2007.

Asked whether Tehran would execute its plan to install 3,000 centrifuges by the end of the current Iranian year, which ends on March 20, 2007, the spokesman answered, "Iranian officials and experts are still seeking to carry out this (plan)."Iran has so far built two cascades of 164 centrifuges for uranium enrichment, which can be used to make nuclear fuel or, in much higher grades, the core of an atom bomb.

Hosseini's remarks came after Israeli Deputy Defense Minister Ephraim Sneh told the Jerusalem Post on Friday that he considered military attack against Iran as a "last resort", which have sparked speculations that Israel might be planning to use military means to destroy Iran's controversial nuclear facilities.

The United States has been seeking to impose sanctions on Iran through the UN Security Council on the grounds that Tehran is developing a nuclear-weapon program under the guise of a civilian-use program.

Iran has insisted that its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes and voiced hope for talks on the nuclear standoff. But the Islamic Republic rejected a prerequisite of suspending nuclear work for such talks.