Iran’s president has warned Israel that any attack on Iran would mean the destruction of the Jewish state.

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said during a visit to the Persian Gulf nation of Qatar on the weekend that Israel would be annihilated if there was any show of force on its part.

He said while he doubted Israel or the US would dare to stage such an attack, Iran would remain ready for a "decisive and wide-scale response."

He said: "Any offensive against Iran means the annihilation of the Zionist entity. Iran does not care much about this entity because it is on its way to decay."

Numerous threats and warnings have been made by both sides in the confrontation over Iran’s nuclear program, which Israel is frightened could be part of a weapons manufacturing process.

During his speech, Ahmadinejad sought to ease concerns among neighboring Arab nations that Teheran could target them if armed conflict were to break out with Israel or Western nations.

He suggested it was time for reconciliation and cooperation between Shiite-dominated Iran and other Gulf nations.

Many of Iran’s neighbors are from rival Sunni Arab groups, which have always feared that Tehran could attack them if such a conflict were to break out.