Panic in Iran as Tehran fears major joint attack on nuclear sites

Iran has reportedly bolstered defences around its nuclear sites amid fears of joint military action by the US and Israel.

The move included deploying extra air defence system launchers, sources told The Telegraph, after US intelligence warned Israel could target key sites.

Donald Trump supported an Israeli strike on Iran's nuclear facilities, reportedly exacerbating fears in Tehran that an attack could be imminent after Iran launched 200 missiles at Tel Aviv last October.

A source told the outlet: "They [Iranian authorities] are just waiting for the attack and are anticipating it every night and everything has been on high alert – even in sites that no one knows about.

"Work to fortify nuclear sites has been ongoing for years but it has intensified over the past year, particularly since Israel launched the first attack."

"Recent developments, including Donald Trump’s comments and reports about potential plans from his administration to strike Iran, have further intensified activities."

The source added that a large strike would expose Iran's vulnerabilities after its defence systems were already weakened by the October strike.

They explained: "Several additional [air defence system] launchers have been deployed, but there is an understanding that they may not be effective in the event of a large-scale strike."

This comes after Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) aerospace force commander General Amir Ali Hajizadeh said Iran was developing a ballistic missile defence system to thwart potential Israeli attacks.

He claimed: "Regarding anti-ballistic systems, in recent events, we suffered damage in this area, which shows a deficiency in the country's ballistic defence sector.

"In every meeting that I, along with [IRGC] commander [Hossein] Salami and [chief of staff of Iran’s armed force] commander [Mohammad] Bagheri, had with the supreme leader, his first question was always: 'What happened? Where does it stand?'

"Currently, we are capable of producing missiles with a range of 2,000 kilometres and have no technical limitations in this regard. If there is a threat from the United States, we can strike nearby targets with low-cost missiles."