US Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton on Tuesday warned that if she is elected president and Iran dares to attack Israel during her term in office, the United States will use its military might to "obliterate" the Islamic Republic.

Speaking in an interview on ABC News, Senator Clinton said: "I want the Iranians to know that if I'm the president, we will attack Iran. In the next 10 years, during which they might foolishly consider launching an attack on Israel, we would be able to totally obliterate them."

A day earlier, US Secretary of Defense Robert Gates said during a speech at the West Point Military Academy that Iran remains "hell-bent" on acquiring nuclear weapons, the only use for which would be to threaten its neighbors, Israel and the West.