Kouchner

VIENNA (AP):

The chief United Nations nuclear inspector urged Iran's harshest critics yesterday to learn the lessons of Iraq and not attack Tehran, saying such options should only be considered as a last resort and if authorised by the Security Council.

Mohamed ElBaradei also called on nations critical of his last-ditch effort to entice Tehran into lifting the veil of secrecy on past nuclear activities to 'hold their horses' until the end of the year - when the deadline for Iran to provide answers runs out.

Tougher diplomatic action

"By November or December we will be able to know if Iran is acting in good faith or not," he said, suggesting that was the time to think of tougher diplomatic action - but not military action - if needed.

ElBaradei, speaking outside a 144-nation meeting of his International Atomic Energy Agency, invoked the example of Iraq in urging an end to the threats of force against Iran - most recently uttered on the weekend by France.

"I would not talk about any use of force," said ElBaradei, noting that only the Security Council can authorise such action. "There are rules on how to use force, and I would hope that everybody would have gotten the lesson after the Iraq situation, where 700,000 innocent civilians have lost their lives on the suspicion that a country has nuclear weapons."

He was alluding to a key U.S. argument for invading Iraq in 2003 without Security Council approval - that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction, including nuclear arms. Four years later, no such weapons have been found.

"I do not believe at this stage that we are facing a clear and present danger that requires we go beyond diplomacy," ElBaradei said.

"We need not to hype the issue," he told reporters.

'Prepare for war'

On Sunday, French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner warned that the world should prepare for war if Iran obtains nuclear weapons and said European leaders were considering their own economic sanctions against the Islamic country.

Negotiations and two sets of U.N. Security Council sanctions have failed to persuade Iran to stop its uranium enrichment programme. Iran insists its atomic activities are aimed only at producing energy, but the U.S., its European allies and other world powers suspect Iranian authorities of seeking nuclear weapons.