The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Chief Mohamed ElBaradei has warned that any Israeli attack on Iran will have dire consequences for the Middle East.

ElBaradei warned on Wednesday that such an attack would "turn the Middle East into a ball of fire".

ElBaradei said he was convinced the Iranians were prepared at one point to stop their enrichment program but that the previous US administration and the European powers missed an opportunity to end the standoff by imposing conditions on Iran that were "impossible to accept".

"They were ready to stop at an R&D (research and development) level ... that could have not have created any concern for the international community," Reuters quoted the IAEA chief as saying in New York on Wednesday.

He also called on Iran to accept the agency's draft proposal on its nuclear program.

"Iran could be the door to a stable Middle East," ElBaradei added.

"I think it's very clear if we succeed on that, it would open the way, finally, to a new era, when Iran and the US ... can work together," the IAEA chief said at the Council on Foreign Relations.

ElBaradei listed Iraq and Afghanistan as two areas where Iran could play a very constructive role.

He said there was "a unique opportunity. I see it (for) the first time ... , a genuine desire on both sides to seriously engage."

The IAEA proposal calls on Iran to send its stocks of low-enriched uranium abroad for conversion into nuclear fuel for a reactor that supplies radioisotopes for medical use.

MGH/SS/RE