'Iran crisis could escalate to war'

Middle Eastern leaders are worried the current stand-off between Iran and the West over Tehran's nuclear ambitions could degenerate into war, UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan said in an interview broadcast yesterday.

Interviewed on French radio, Mr Annan urged a negotiated settlement to the crisis but acknowledged there were concerns in the region that it could worsen and end in military action.

Asked whether he could envisage a situation escalating from sanctions against Iran to war, Mr Annan said: "That's the fear among a lot of government leaders I met in the region, because they lived through Iraq and they're afraid."

Iran's nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani and EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana met at the weekend to seek a compromise before possible punitive action after Iran ignored an August 31 Security Council deadline to stop enriching uranium. They said they had made progress at the talks in Vienna and Mr Annan said he hoped more could be made.

"Frankly, I think the best solution is a negotiated one. If we move towards confrontation, I fear that will create an enormous number of problems for them, especially in a region where there are already several crises," he said in a pre-recorded interview.

He said Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad told him he intended to go to the UN in New York.

Mr Annan sees no need to become directly involved in the discussions for the time being.

"The countries are discussing things between themselves. The moment hasn't come for me to intervene. So I leave them and I encourage them," he said.

Western powers including the US and the EU suspect Iran of trying to develop technology that would allow it to produce atomic weapons and want Tehran to stop uranium enrichment activities.

Iran says its nuclear programme is peaceful and insists it has the right to develop the technology.

The US has been pressing for Security Council sanctions after Tehran ignored the August 31 deadline but Mr Annan expressed scepticism about the prospects of agreement in the face of strong opposition from some Council members.

"It's not whether I'm in favour or not, it isn't sure that they would pass so easily in the Council," he said. "There's a division at the moment."

Russia and China, both of which have strong trade ties to Iran, oppose sanctions and could block them.