TEHRAN - Iran will "blow up the heart" of Israel if attacked by the Jewish state or the United States, an aide to supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was quoted on Friday as saying.

"Even if one American or Zionist missile hits our land, before the dust is settled, Iranian missiles will blow up the heart of Israel," state news agency IRNA quoted Khamenei's deputy representative to the elite Revolutionary Guards, Mojtaba Zolnour, as saying.

Iranian officials have repeatedly said that Tehran would carry out severe reprisals if Israel or the United States attack the country.

Israel and the United States have repeatedly made war threats against Iran.

"As our leader has said, our enemies are pursuing an Iranophobia scenario against us, and they are saying Iran is against world peace. But the world has understood that what they say is a lie," said Ahmad Khatami, Another Khamenei aide, in a sermon broadcast live on state-run radio.

"The enemy should know that if they want to hurt Iran they will receive such a slap that they will not be able to stand up," he added.

"The Geneva talks were a success and a victory for the Islamic republic system (since) even the Zionist and world arrogances' media confirmed this," he said.

Iran insists it has the right to develop nuclear technology, which it says is aimed at generating energy for its growing population.

Although Iran has oil, it is still dependent on petrol imports to meet about 40 percent of domestic consumption.

Israel is the only country in the Middle Ease that actually has nuclear weapons.

Observers say due the strong Jewish and pro-Israel lobbies in the US and some European countries, these countries have taken a hypocritical stance in relation to nuclear issues in the region.

Iranian President Mahmud Ahmadinejad is not liked in Tel Aviv because of his strong criticism of the long and brutal Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories.

Ahmadinejad has repeatedly called for a democratic one-state solution for the Middle East conflict, which means that that Israel as a "colonial entity" or a "racist sate" will be "wiped off the map" and replaced by a state where Jews and Arabs live side by side peacefully and equally.

He even recently accepted the two-state solution if this is the wish of the majority of Palestinians, but some media outlets have deliberately distorted his comments to claim that he seeks to wipe Israel off the map.

After wiping Palestine off the map, Israel currently occupies the Palestinian West Bank and East Jerusalem; the Lebanese Shabaa Farms and the Syrian Golan Heights.

The Isreali-besieged Palestinian Gaza Strip is also considered still under Israeli occupation.

Iran and the United States have not had diplomatic relations since 1979 Iranian revolution, which toppled the ruthless US-backed dictator, the shah.

Tehran never forgave Washington for supporting the shah, and is angry at Tel Aviv in its role for supporting the shah's secret services which were involved in oppressing and torturing Iranians.

Recently, Barack Obama admitted US involvement in the 1953 coup which overthrew the democratically elected Iranian government of Prime Minister Mohammad Mossadegh.

The US Central Intelligence Agency, with British backing, masterminded the coup after Mossadegh nationalised the oil industry.

For many Iranians, the coup demonstrated duplicity by the United States, which presented itself as a defender of freedom but did not hesitate to use underhand methods to get rid of a democratically elected government to suit its own interests.

Pro-Israeli lobby groups have a strong say in US foreign policy in the Middle East, and Washington usually appeases Tel Aviv, even in policies which run against American interest.

Meanwhile, the US House of Representatives called Thursday on Obama to report by January 31 the progress of his diplomatic outreach with Iran over its controversial nuclear drive.

In a provision of the 2010 defense budget bill, lawmakers said they required Obama "no later than January 31, 2010, to deliver a report to Congress on US engagement" with Tehran.

The legislation also demanded that sanctions be levied against Iran if Tehran does not "accept the offer of the United States to engage in diplomatic talks" and also if it fails "to suspend all enrichment-related and reprocessing activities" related to its nuclear ambitions.

The bill, which still needs Senate approval, also requires Secretary of Defense Robert Gates "to submit an annual report to Congress on the current and future military strategy of the Islamic Republic of Iran."

The draft Senate bill aims to impose new sanctions on companies exporting refined petroleum products to Tehran, and other measures.