'Ball of fire' warning if Iran is hit

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates - The U.N. nuclear watchdog chief warned in comments aired yesterday that any military strike on Iran could turn the Mideast into a "ball of fire" and lead the country to a more aggressive stance on its nuclear program.

The comments by Mohamed ElBaradei, head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, came in an interview with an Arab television station aired a day after U.S. officials said they believed recent large Israeli military exercises may have been meant to show Israel's ability to hit Iran's nuclear sites.

"In my opinion, a military strike will be the worst . . . it will turn the Middle East to a ball of fire," ElBaradei said on Al-Arabiya television. It also could prompt Iran to press harder to seek a nuclear program, and force him to resign, he said.

Iran yesterday also criticized the Israeli exercises. The official IRNA news agency quoted a government spokesman as saying the exercises demonstrate that Israel "jeopardizes global peace and security."

Israel sent warplanes and other aircraft on a major exercise in the eastern Mediterranean this month, U.S. military officials said Friday. Israel's military refused to confirm or deny that the maneuvers were practice for a strike in Iran, saying only that it regularly trains for various missions to counter threats.

But the exercise may have been a show of force as well as a practice of skills needed for a long-range strike mission, one U.S. official said on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak on the record on the matter.

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has said he prefers that Iran's nuclear ambitions be halted by diplomatic means, but he has declined to rule out military action.

The United States says it is seeking a diplomatic resolution to the threat the West sees from Iran's nuclear program, although U.S. officials also have refused to take the military option off the table.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice refused to comment on the Israeli maneuvers in an interview with National Public Radio aired yesterday but said: "We are committed to a diplomatic course."

The United States and other Western nations accuse Iran of seeking a nuclear bomb. Iran has said its nuclear program is aimed at generating electricity.