Iran says any US attack would be big mistake

TEHRAN - The United States would be making a big mistake if it launched a military attack against Iran, the Islamic state said on Sunday in response to recent statements by US officials.

"We think the chance (of a US military attack) is very low unless someone wants to make a major strategic mistake," Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi told a weekly news conference.

"Logically speaking, we don't think this is going to happen," he said.

US President George W. Bush last week said military action had not been ruled out to deal with Iran's nuclear programme and Vice President Dick Cheney said Iran was top of the list of world "trouble spots" and warned Israel could decide to bomb its nuclear facilities.

Asefi, echoing comments by other senior Iranian officials in recent days, dismissed the US remarks as "psychological warfare".

"These kind of remarks are clear examples of cultural and religious war which will only lead to people's hatred of US policies ... and will isolate America more than before," he said.

He said Cheney's comments about Israel attacking Iran's nuclear facilities underscored the influence Israel had on US foreign policy.

"Iran has always said that Tel Aviv decides US policies and that the Zionist lobby is so powerful in the United States, therefore we were not surprised by such remarks," he said.

- REUTERS