Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad accused the United States and Israel of seeking world support for a military strike on Iran, in comments published Monday in which he also warned against attacks on his country.

Ahmadinejad, in an interview with Egypt's state-owned Al-Akhbar newspaper, lashed out at Israel after its president, Shimon Peres, warned at the weekend that an attack on Iran is becoming increasingly likely.

Israel, Iran's arch-enemy, was "bound to collapse," Ahmadinejad said.

"Iran's capabilities are increasing and it is progressing, and for that reason it has been able to compete in the world. Now Israel and the West, particularly America, fear Iran's capabilities and role," he said.

"Therefore they are trying to gather international support for a military operation to stop (Iran's) role. The arrogant should know that Iran will not allow them to take any action against it," he said.

Ahmadinejad, who repeated Iran's frequent denials that the Islamic state is not seeking nuclear weapons and that its atomic programme is for peaceful purposes only, added that Washington wanted to "save the Zionist entity, but it will not be able to do so."

"This entity (Israel) can be compared to a liver transplanted in a body that rejected it," he said. "Yes it will collapse and its end will be near."

Peres warned in an interview aired by Israel's privately-owned Channel Two television on Saturday that an attack on Iran was becoming "more and more likely."

He followed this up in comments published on Sunday by the Israel Hayom daily, saying: "The possibility of a military attack against Iran is now closer to being applied than the application of a diplomatic option.

"We must stay calm and resist pressure so that we can consider every alternative," he added.

"I don't think that any decision has already been made, but there is an impression that Iran is getting closer to nuclear weapons," Peres added.

The spike in tension between Israel and Iran comes ahead of the expected release Tuesday or Wednesday of a report into Iran's nuclear programme by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) nuclear watchdog.

Previous IAEA assessments have centred on Iran's efforts to produce fissile material -- uranium and plutonium -- that can be used for power generation and other peaceful uses, but also for the core of a nuclear warhead.

However the new update will focus on Iran's alleged efforts to put the fissile material in a warhead and develop missiles to carry them to a target.

Iran nuclear crisis timeline
Tehran (AFP) Nov 7, 2011 - Key developments in the standoff over Iran's nuclear programme:

2005

- Aug 8: Iran resumes uranium conversion activities which had been suspended since November 2004.

2006

- April 11: Iran says it has enriched its first uranium to 3.5 percent purity and later, in May, to 4.8 percent. This is not sufficient to make a nuclear bomb.

- Dec 23: The UN Security Council imposes sanctions on Iran's trade in sensitive nuclear materials and technology. It strengthens the measures in 2007, 2008 and 2010.

2007

- April 9: President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad says Iran can produce nuclear fuel on an industrial scale.

2009

- April 9: Iran inaugurates its first nuclear fuel plant, and says it has installed 7,000 uranium enrichment centrifuges at Natanz.

- Sept 25-28: Iran reveals a secret uranium enrichment plant in the central region of Fordo.

- Oct 21: The IAEA floats a plan under which Iran's nuclear fuel would be enriched outside the country; Tehran rejects the offer.

2010

- June-July: World powers enact new military and financial sanctions.

- July 30: Iran says it is ready for immediate talks with the United States, Russia and France over an exchange of nuclear fuel.

- Aug 16: Iran announces it is to start building its third uranium enrichment plant in early 2011.

- Aug 21: Iran starts loading fuel into its Russian-built first nuclear plant at Bushehr.

- Nov 29: Twin blasts in Iran's capital kill a top nuclear scientist and injure another. Ahmadinejad blames Israel and the West.

- Dec 6: After a 14-month break, Iran and six world powers open two days of talks that yield agreement on holding another round of discussions.

2011

- Jan 22: Failure of new talks between Tehran and world powers in Istanbul.

- May 23-24: The European Union and US announce new sanctions against Iran.

- July 19: Iran says it has begun installing new centrifuges with better quality and speed.

- Aug 22: Iran says it has begun transferring centrifuges from Natanz to the Fordo plant.

- Sept 2: The UN's atomic watchdog says it is getting worried about a possible military dimension to Iran's nuclear activities. It says since February 2007, Iran has produced more than 4,500 kilos (9,920 pounds) of 3.5-percent enriched uranium (LEU) at its Natanz site.

- Sept 22: Ahmadinejad says Iran will halt production of low-enriched uranium, if the West gives it the material in return. Washington dismisses the proposal.

- Oct 6: Israeli President Shimon Peres warns that an attack on Iran is becoming increasingly likely.