Military action against Iran counter-productive: ElBaradei

"It could be absolutely counter-productive. It could be catastrophe for varied reasons," ElBaradei said at a high-level panel discussion titled "Stopping the Spread of Nuclear Weapons" hosted by the World Economic Forum.

ElBaradei said it is not a practical position to solve the Iran nuclear crisis in the military way, since bombs can destroy facilities, but can not eliminate the knowledge.

"Should they have the knowledge, are you going to bomb the knowledge?" ElBaradei said, adding that it was still unknown whether Iran has undeclared nuclear facilities.

ElBaradei also warned military action would only "strengthen the hand of those who say 'let us develop a weapon'."

Iran said on Tuesday it was still cooperating with the ElBaradei's agency, a day after announcing it was barring IAEA inspectors from working in the country.

Iran had decided to revise its cooperation level with the United Nations' nuclear watchdog after the UN Security Council last December imposed sanctions on Iran's nuclear and missile programs and called for the country to suspend the enrichment activities.

Iran, accused by the United States and other Western countries of seeking nuclear weapons, insisted its nuclear program was solely for civilian purpose.

A Kuwaiti newspaper recently disclosed that the U.S. government had decided to launch attack against Iran from the sea before this April, a claim repeatedly denied by the White House.

"I hope we continue to stop seeking a military option and try to focus on finding a political solution,"