Israel awaiting US green light to 'return Iran to Stone Age': defence minister says

"The IDF is ready both defensively and offensively, and the targets have been marked," Katz said in a video statement.

"We are awaiting a green light from the United States -- first and foremost to complete the elimination of the Khamenei dynasty... and additionally to return Iran to the Dark Age and the Stone Age by destroying key energy and electricity facilities and dismantling its national economic infrastructure," he added.

The opening US-Israel attack of the war on February 28 killed Iran's supreme leader Ali Khamenei, whose son later succeeded him but has yet to appear in public, creating speculation over his condition and if he is still alive.

"This time, when the attack resumes, it will be different and lethal, adding devastating blows at the most sensitive points -- following the tremendous strikes the Iranian terror regime has already sustained -- that will shake and bring down its foundations," Katz said.

US President Donald Trump on Tuesday announced an indefinite extension of the ceasefire between the United States and Iran, which came into effect on April 8, to create space for talks with Tehran.

Plans for renewed negotiations in Pakistan hang in the balance.

The Middle East war has engulfed the region, leaving several thousand people dead, mainly in Iran and Lebanon, and continuing to destabilise the global economy.