Iran, sandwiched between US troops in Iraq and Afghanistan, said on Thursday it believed the chance of a US attack was low since American forces were pinned down elsewhere, but if one happened it would fail. "I do not think the Americans would do such a crazy thing as carry out military attacks against Iran," Iranian President Mohammad Khatami told state radio during a visit to Uganda.
"We believe the possibility of America attacking Iran is very low, as it is involved in other places," he said. "The Iraqi problem is too complicated and so it does not seem they would think about attacking another country."
Khatami said Iran would in any case defend itself against any attack by the United States, which he described as not "wise enough" to understand the implications of its own actions.
Khatami was asked about an article in the New Yorker magazine that reported the United States had conducted secret reconnaissance missions inside Iran to help identify potential nuclear, chemical and missile targets.
"If any country tries to invade our country, we are strong enough to defend ourselves," Khatami told a news conference.
"The US has shown many times that it is not wise enough to think about the future and the implications of its actions ... If the Americans can rescue themselves from Iraq, they have done a great job."
The New Yorker article, by award-winning reporter Seymour Hersh, said secret missions have been under way at least since last summer with the goal of identifying target information for three dozen or more suspected sites.
Pentagon officials called the New Yorker report "riddled with errors".
IRAN "NOT SEEKING WAR" But President George W. Bush said on Monday Washington would not rule out military action against Iran - which he has labelled part of an "axis of evil" alongside prewar Iraq and North Korea - if it was not more forthcoming about its suspected nuclear weapons programme.
The United States has toppled regimes in Iran's neighbours Afghanistan and Iraq since the September 11 attacks in 2001.
Iran has also warned Israel, Washington's chief ally in the region, it would not hesitate to launch missiles at the Jewish state should it attack Iran's nuclear facilities. Israeli warplanes bombed the Osirak nuclear reactor in Iraq in 1981.
"No one is going to benefit from attacking our country, including the US and others. Our friends will certainly condemn any such acts on behalf of the United States," Khatami said after talks with Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni.
"We are not seeking war with any country, including the United States, and we will mobilise our resources to avoid any such tensions in the future."
Enmity between the United States and Iran dates back to the 1979 seizure of the US embassy by radical Islamic students who held 52 hostages there for 444 days.
Washington severed ties with Tehran in 1980.