Asked by Germany's Der Spiegel weekly how to prevent Iran from developing a military nuclear program, Musharraf said: "I do not know. They are very anxious to have the bomb."

But a preventive war against Tehran would lead to "a disaster considering the current state of the world," the Pakistani leader said.

"It would provoke a rebellion in the Muslim world. Why open up new fronts?" he was quoted by the weekly as saying.

Musharraf insisted that Pakistan, which already has nuclear weapons, was against proliferation.

Unlike Pakistan, which said it developed its offensive nuclear program because it shares a border with nuclear-armed archrival India, "Iran does not have common borders with Israel," he said.

"We were really threatened," Musharraf added.

On Friday, a key UN conference failed to adopt new measures to stem proliferation, with the United States insisting on dealing with Iran's and North Korea's nuclear programs while Iran demanded that its right to peaceful atomic activities be recognized.

Iran recently said it planned to resume its uranium enrichment program, despite an undertaking it gave to European Union countries to suspend it.

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