TEHRAN, 12 December 2021, (TON): A top Iranian military official warned on Saturday of a heavy price for aggressors, state media said, after a report of US and Israeli plans for possible military drills to prepare for strikes against Iran's nuclear sites if diplomacy fails.

Nournews, affiliated with Iran's top security body, said on Twitter "providing conditions for military commanders to test Iranian missiles with real targets will cost the aggressors a heavy price.”

A senior US official told Reuters on Thursday that US and Israeli defence chiefs were expected to discuss possible military exercises that would prepare for a worst-case scenario to destroy Iran's nuclear facilities should diplomacy fail and if their nations' leaders request it.

Iran denies seeking nuclear weapons, saying it wants to master nuclear technology for peaceful purposes.

The US-Israeli preparations, which have not been previously reported, underscore Western concern about difficult nuclear talks with Iran that President Joe Biden had hoped would revive a 2015 nuclear deal abandoned by his predecessor, Donald Trump.