Former White House national security adviser has urged President Bush to dissuade Israel from attacking Iran over its nuclear program.

In an interview on the Bloomberg Television on Friday, Zbigniew Brzezinski, said that an armed conflict between Israel and Iran would widen to include the US and will lead to Iranian attacks against the US forces in Iraq and Afghanistan.

He noted that any military confrontation begins between Iran and the US will put the US "into a very destructive conflict from which the US will not extricate itself for many years to come."

Brzezinski, 80 and now a counselor at the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies, said the most effective strategy for dealing with Iran's nuclear program would be a combination of stiffer economic sanctions and positive incentives to negotiate.

He said threats of military action against Iran are "counterproductive'' because they unite the Iranian population in opposition to the US.

Brzezinski said Bush has leverage to discourage an Israeli strike because Israeli warplanes would have to fly through airspace controlled by the US in order to attack Iran, and the US could deny permission to do so.

MGH/HAR