Israeli chief of staff Lieutenant General Benny Gantz announced yesterday the formation of a new command that will be in charge of “depth” missions in distant locations, the military said.

“The primary task of the corps will be to extend joint Israeli army operations into the strategic depth,” a military statement said.

The “depth corps” will be headed by Major General Shai Avital, a former special operations commander who resigned from the military in 2002.

Last month, the International Atomic Energy Agency, the UN nuclear watchdog, warned it had credible information that Iran was carrying out “activities relevant to the development of a nuclear explosive device.”

Israel and much of the international community fear that Iran’s nuclear programme masks a drive for a weapons capability.

Tehran denies any such ambition and says the programme is for peaceful civilian energy and medical purposes only.

Israel has pushed Washington and the European Union for tougher sanctions against Tehran, while repeatedly warning it would not allow Iran to obtain nuclear weapons.

Earlier this month, Defence Minister Ehud Barak ruled out a strike against Iran’s nuclear facilities “for the moment,” but said the Jewish state would keep all options open.

“We have no intention of acting for the moment ... We should not engage in war when it is not necessary, but there may come a time or another when we are forced to face tests,” Mr Barak said.

“Our position has not changed on three points: a nuclear Iran is unacceptable, we are determined to stop that and all options are on the table,” he added.

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