U.N. atom chief warns of "fireball" if Iran attacked

By Lin Noueihed

DUBAI (Reuters) - The U.N. nuclear watchdog chief said a military strike on Iran would turn the Middle East into a fireball and prompt Tehran to launch a crash course to build nuclear weapons.

Russia also warned against military threats on Friday, after The New York Times quoted U.S. officials as saying Israel had carried out a large military exercise, apparently a rehearsal for a potential bombing of Iran's nuclear facilities.

"A military strike, in my opinion, would be worse than anything," International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) director general Mohamad ElBaradei told Al Arabiya television in an interview aired on Friday.

"It would turn the region into a fireball."

He said any attack would only make the Islamic Republic more determined in its confrontation with the West over its nuclear programme.

"If you do a military strike, it will mean that Iran, if it is not already making nuclear weapons, will launch a crash course to build nuclear weapons with the blessing of all Iranians, even those in the West."

"If a military strike is carried out against Iran at this time ... it would make me unable to continue my work," he added.

Russia's U.N. envoy said threatening Iran with military action could undermine newfound momentum in the drive by six world powers to resolve the standoff with Tehran.