Iran's Defence Minister Ahmad Vahidi said Tuesday that Western warships stationed in the Gulf are "best targets" for the Islamic republic if its nuclear sites are attacked, Fars news agency reported. Iranian officials have repeatedly threatened to deliver a "crushing response" and hit US targets, including its bases in the Gulf and neighbouring Iraq and Afghanistan, if Iran's nuclear sites are attacked.

"Why are there so many warships there? The Westerners know that these warships are the best target for operation by Iran if they do anything against (us)," Vahidi told a conference entitled "Persian Gulf" in Tehran. He also criticised the building of US bases in the region and Washington's "unofficial presence in Yemen."

Copyright Agence France-Presse, 2010