THE UN nuclear watchdog chief warned yesterday that any military strike on Iran could turn the Middle East into a "ball of fire" and lead Iran to a more aggressive stance on its controversial nuclear programme.
After US officials said they believed recent large Israeli military exercises may have been meant to show Israel's ability to hit Iran's nuclear sites, Mohamed ElBaradei, head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, said: "In my opinion, a milita
ry strike will be the worst... it will turn the Middle East to a ball of fire."
It also could prompt Iran to press even harder to seek a nuclear programme, and force him to resign, he said.
Iran also criticised the Israeli exercises. A government spokesman reportedly said the exercises demonstrate Israel "jeopardises global peace and security".
Israel sent warplanes and other aircraft on a major exercise in the eastern Mediterranean earlier this month, US military officials said on Friday.
Israel's military refused to confirm or deny the manoeuvres were practice for a strike in Iran, saying only that it regularly trains for various missions to counter threats to the country.
But the exercise in the first week of June may have been meant as a show of force as well as a practice on skills needed to execute a long-range strike mission, one US official said.
The New York Times quoted officials as saying that more than 100 Israeli F-16s and F-15s staged the manoeuvre, flying more than 900 miles, roughly the distance from Israel to Iran's Natanz nuclear enrichment facility, and that the exercise included refuelling tankers and helicopters capable of rescuing downed pilots.
Israeli prime minister Ehud Olmert has said he would rather Iran's nuclear ambitions be halted by diplomatic means, but has pointedly declined to rule out military action.
The US also says it is seeking a peaceful, diplomatic resolution to the threat the West sees from Iran's nuclear programme, although US officials also have refused to take the threat of military action off the table.
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice refused to comment on the Israeli manoeuvres in an interview with National Public Radio yesterday but said: "We are committed to a diplomatic course." Russia's foreign minister warned on Friday against the use of force on Iran, saying there is no proof it is trying to build nuclear weapons with the programme, which Tehran says is for generating power.
