WASHINGTON, Feb 4: US Secretary of State Colin Powell on Sunday backed President George Bush’s reference in last week’s State of the Union message to Iran, Iraq and North Korea as forming an axis of evil”, but downplayed interpretations of the speech as signalling imminent military action against the three countries.

Appearing in a talk show on CBS, Mr Powell said President Bush’s intention was to get everyone’s attention to the fact that the three countries were part of the whole problem of acquisition of weapons of mass destruction and state sponsorship of terrorism.

All options were available, economic, diplomatic and military, but the US was looking for political and diplomatic means to solve the problem and was not looking for war.

Asked whether pre-emptive strikes were possible, Mr Powell said the US reserved the right to “protect ourselves and our allies”, but stressed that the US did not want to act unilaterally and was in consultation with its allies.

Mr Powell said Iran had been cooperative in the Bonn talks leading to the formation of an interim administration in Kabul and also at the Tokyo conference on Afghan reconstruction, but it was also “doing a few unhelpful things” in relation to Afghanistan.

To support his charge, Mr Powell said Revolutionary Guards had been seen in western Afghanistan. But he said he could not confirm reports that Iran had given shelter to Osama bin Laden or Mullah Omar.

In a separate interview, Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfefd said the US had “any number of reports hat Iran has been permissive and allowed transit through their country of Al Qaeda”.