Speaking a day after Iran inaugurated the Shihab-3, a new surface-to-surface missile that brings all of Israel within its reach, Mofaz said the integration of both capabilities would present a clear threat, army radio reported.

"I believe that adding the ability of the Shihab-3 and of the other versions that the Iranians are developing, with their strong desire for non-conventional capability, in other words nuclear ability, is both a threat and a danger," Mofaz told the right-wing Likud party.

The missile, which has a range of 1,300 kilometers (810 miles), can reportedly carry a warhead weighing up to 1,000 kilograms (2,200 pounds).

Speaking to European Union ministers in Brussels on Monday, Israeli Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom warned that "Iran is threatening the stability not only of the region but of the entire world" with its nuclear programme and the development of a new ballistic missile.

"Iran is now trying to do everything to have a nuclear weapon and that can damage and threaten not only the Middle East. It can threaten Europe, the southern part of Russia," he said.

Israel, along with the United States, alleges that Iran is using an atomic energy program as a cover for secret nuclear weapons development.

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