TEHRAN, Jan 25: Iran's top national security official, Ali Larijani, assessed as ‘very weak’ on Thursday the possibility of a pre-emptive US strike on his country's nuclear facilities.

“The possibility of this is very weak and it's more a matter of psychological warfare,” the semi-official Mehr news agency quoted Mr Larijani as saying.

“However, Iran is always ready to confront threats.”

Defence Minister Mostafa Mohammad Najjar issued a similar message of defiance, vowing that Iran would repulse any strike, of whatever size.

“The Islamic republic's armed forces are in a state of complete readiness and are monitoring everything in order to give a crushing response to even the smallest aggression or threat,” the ISNA news agency quoted him as saying.

“I advise Mr Bush and his advisors to be rational and think about their own nation's interest.”—AFP