Iran is warning the West that they are prepared to launch a preemptive strike against opponents of its nuclear program.

'We are no longer willing to wait for enemy action to be launched against us," Mohammed Hejazi, deputy head of Iran's armed forces, said.

"Our strategy now is that if we feel our enemies want to endanger Iran's national interests and want to decide to do that, we will act without waiting for their actions," he said.

"We enjoy the ability to show them all types of confrontation in case of a foolish act by the Zionist (Israeli) regime," Hejazi said.

The statement comes after Iranian officials refused U.N. inspectors access to the Parchin facility, where some suspect explosive tests for a nuclear bomb may have been conducted.

"It is disappointing that Iran did not accept our request to visit Parchin during the first or second meetings," said Yukiya Amano, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency.

"We engaged in a constructive spirit but no agreement was reached," he said.

With suspicions abounding that Tehran is racing to build a nuclear weapon, Israel and the United States haven't ruled out military action against the Islamic Republic's nuclear sites.