An Iranian flag is pictured at the United Nations headquarters in New York, Jan. 8, 2020.(Photo: Xinhua)

Iran has equipped 51 of its cities with civil defense systems and boosted readiness at air defenses to thwart any possible foreign attack, military officials said on Saturday, amid an escalation of tensions with Israel and the US.

The civil defense equipment will enable Iran to "identify and monitor threats by using round-the-clock software according to the type of the threat and risk," deputy defense minister Brigadier General Mehdi Farahi was quoted as saying by Iranian media.

"These days, depending on the strength of countries, the form of battles has become more complicated," said Farahi, adding that hybrid forms of warfare including cyber, biological and radioactive attacks, have replaced classical wars. He did not name the countries that could threaten Iran.

Meanwhile, Brigadier General Qader Rahimzadeh, commander of Iran's air defense headquarters, said readiness was at its highest among his forces.

"The country's airspace today is the safest for licensed flights and the most insecure for would-be aggressors," Rahimzadeh was quoted as saying by the semi-official Mehr news agency.

Iran has accused Israel and the US of cyber-attacks in recent years that have impaired the country's infrastructure. 

Iran has also accused Israel, which has neither confirmed nor denied responsibility, of sabotaging its nuclear facilities.

US-Iran military tensions have also long dogged the region. In the latest incident, Iran seized US military sail drones in the Red Sea earlier this week - even as both countries pursue nuclear talks.  

On Tuesday, the US Navy said it foiled an attempt by Iran's Revolutionary Guards naval forces to capture an unmanned surface vessel operated by the US 5th Fleet in the Gulf. Iran said the drone was a danger to maritime traffic.

Separately, state media said security forces in northern Iran arrested 12 followers of the banned Baha'i faith.

The Islamic Republic considers the Baha'i faith a heretical offshoot of Islam and accuses its followers of ties to Israel because a main Baha'i shrine, built more than a century ago, is located in Israel.

The White House on Friday rejected linking a revival of the 2015 Iran nuclear deal with the closure of investigations by the UN nuclear watchdog a day after Iran reopened the issue according to a Western diplomat.

Iran on Thursday sent its latest response to a European Union (EU) proposed text to revive the agreement under which it had restrained its nuclear program in exchange for relief from US, EU and UN economic sanctions.

Then-US president Donald Trump abandoned the deal in 2018 and reimposed US sanctions. Iran denies having nuclear ambitions.

Reuters