Syrian President Bashar al-Assad warned Tuesday that an attack by Israel on Iran would have catastrophic consequences for the entire world.

"We think that Israel could try to launch attacks against Iran, even against Lebanon or Syria," he said in an interview with France 3 television.

"Any attack by Israel or by anyone else will have catastrophic results not only on the region but on the whole world," he said.

In recent months several Israeli politicians have talked of the possibility of a preemptive military strike against Iranian nuclear facilities to avoid any possibility of Tehran acquiring an atomic weapon.

Iran has responded by threatening retaliatory strikes with its Shahab-3 missiles which have a nominal range of 2,000 kilometres (1,250 miles) -- enough to reach Israel.