ElBaradei: Attack on Iran will turn Middle East into a 'ball of fire'

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

"What I see in Iran today is a current, grave and urgent danger. If a military strike is carried out against Iran at this time ... it would make me unable to continue my work," he added. �

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

The interview comes a day after reports emerged that Israel conducted a large-scale military exercise that the United States believes is in part a message to Iran that Israel has the capability to attack its nuclear program.

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

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

Recently, Israel Deputy Prime Minister Shaul Mofaz said the Jewish state "will attack" Iran if it doesn't halt its efforts to develop nuclear weaponry.

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 threat of military action off the table.

The U.S. and many Western nations accuse Iran of seeking a nuclear bomb. Iran has rejected the charges saying its nuclear program is aimed at generating electricity not a weapon.

Tehran has rejected and repeatedly declared that it pursues no plans to develop a military nuclear program and the only thing it wants is to enjoy its legitimate rights in the framework of the IAEA and the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and generate electricity not a weapon.