Rice Criticises Nuclear Watchdog

The US secretary of state, Condoleezza Rice, today publicly criticized the UN's atomic watchdog and called for diplomacy with "teeth" to end Iran's nuclear plans.

But amid divisions in Washington on what approach to take, Ms Rice sought to tone down recent talk of war.

While repeating that "all options" remained on the table - a reference to military action - Ms Rice said: "The diplomatic track can work but it has to work both with a set of incentives and a set of teeth."

The US has criticized a deal that Mohamed ElBaradei, the head of International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), made with Iran to answer long-standing questions about Tehran's nuclear activities.

The Bush administration and its European allies argue that the IAEA has been soft on Iran by allowing Tehran to continue its uranium enrichment and are preparing further sanctions against the country.

Ms Rice, who in June accused Mr ElBaradei of "muddying the message" to Iran, again rebuked the IAEA.

"The IAEA is not in the business of diplomacy," she said. "The IAEA is a technical agency that has a board of governors of which the United States is a member," Ms Rice told reporters traveling with her to Israel and the Palestinian territories.

Meanwhile, an Iranian air force commander said that Iran has drawn up a plan to bomb Israel if it comes under attack from the Jewish state.

Last week's Israeli air strike against a site in northern Syria has triggered speculation that it was a dry run for a possible strike against Iran's nuclear facilities.

Comments by French officials, including President Nicolas Sarkozy, have raised fears about the possibility of a conflict with Iran.

The French prime minister, François Fillon, said on Monday everything must be done to avoid war, a day after the foreign minister, Bernard Kouchner, said Paris should prepare for that possibility, although he did not think any war was imminent.

"For our part, we have drawn up a plan so that, in the event of foolishness by this [Israeli] regime, Iran's bombers can retaliate by attacking Israel's soil," Mohammad Alavi, deputy commander of air force operations, was quoted as saying by the semi-official Fars news agency.

The US criticized Iran for its "provocative" statements.

"I believe that sort of comment as reported out of Iran is unhelpful. It is not constructive and it almost seems provocative," the White House spokeswoman, Dana Perino, said. "Israel doesn't seek a war with its neighbors."