TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iran's foreign minister said on Sunday he did not believe Israel was in a position to attack the Islamic Republic over its nuclear programme.
"They know full well what the consequences of such an actwould be," Foreign Minister Manoucher Mottaki told reporters.
He was speaking a day after the head of the eliteRevolutionary Guards was quoted as saying Iran would imposecontrols on shipping in the Gulf oil route if Iran was attackedand warned regional states of reprisals if they took part.
Speculation about a possible attack on Iran has risen sincea U.S. newspaper reported this month that Israel had practicedsuch a strike.
Mottaki said Israel was dealing with the consequences ofits 2006 war with Hezbollah guerrillas in Lebanon and wassuffering a "crisis of deepening illegitimacy" in the MiddleEast region.
"That's why we do not see the Zionist regime in a situationin which they would want to engage in such an adventurism," hesaid when asked about the possibility of an Israeli attack.
Fear of an escalation in the standoff between the West andIran, the world's fourth largest oil producer, have been onefactor pushing oil prices to record highs. Crude hit a recordlevel on international markets near $143 a barrel on Friday.
Analysts say Iran could use unconventional tactics, such asdeploying small craft to attack ships, or using allies in thearea to strike at U.S. or Israeli interests.
Iran's Defence Minister Mostafa Mohammad Najjar saidreports of a possible strike were part of the "psychologicalwarfare" waged by the West against Iran, aimed at divertingattention from "domestic failures" in the United States andIsrael.
The Islamic Republic says its nuclear programme is peacefuland aimed at generating electricity. But the West and Israelfear Iran is seeking to build atomic bombs. Israel is believedto be the only Middle Eastern state with nuclear arms.
Washington has said it wants diplomacy to end the nuclearrow but has not ruled out military action should that fail.
European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana handedIran an offer on June 14 of trade and other benefits proposedby the United States, Russia, China, Britain, Germany andFrance to try to end the row.
Iran has ruled out suspending sensitive nuclear work inexchange for such economic incentives, but says it will reviewthe package and give a response.
"Right now we are in the final stage of reviewing thepackage," Deputy Foreign Minister Alireza Sheikh-Attar wasquoted as saying on state television's website, withoutelaborating.
(Reporting by Hashem Kalantari and Parisa Hafezi; Writingby Fredrik Dahl; Editing by Elizabeth Piper)
