TEHRAN/KABUL, 5 February — Iran yesterday denied it was giving shelter to Al-Qaeda fighters and warned the United States any attack would be a "huge mistake", as the interim Afghan government struggled to keep a lid on factional fighting. Tehran reacted furiously to new allegations by US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, which came days after President George W. Bush said the Islamic republic was part of an "axis of evil."

Cautioning against any US military strike on Iran, Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamid-Reza Asefi also dismissed Bush’s charge that Tehran was developing weapons of mass destruction. "I only hope the Americans will not make such a huge, irreparable mistake," Asefi told reporters, when asked about possible US military action.

Asefi demanded Washington provide proof to back up its allegations that militants from Osama Bin Laden’s Al-Qaeda network were escaping from Afghanistan to Iran. He said the untrue allegations were inspired by archfoe Israel. "As far as we are concerned, our borders are closed and we are blocking all illegal entry," said Asefi.

Rumsfeld said Sunday he had no doubt Al-Qaeda and Taleban fighters were finding refuge in Iran and that the Iranian authorities were assisting their flight. The comments came five days after Bush lumped Iran together with Iraq and North Korea in an "axis of evil" which he said was threatening world peace with weapons of mass destruction.

Iranian Defense Minister Ali Shamkhani denied press reports that his country was possessing nuclear weapons. Speaking to Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper, he said Iran would concentrate its efforts on developing long-range missiles.

Those remarks were criticized yesterday by the 57-member Organization of the Islamic Conference. "The recent statements and campaigns against Islamic countries are unjustified and would make the international coalition against terror lose its credibility," OIC chief Abdelouahed Belkeziz said.

The interim Afghan government, which is struggling to assert its authority, said pockets of Al-Qaeda fighters were on the run in eastern Afghanistan near the Pakistani border. "They are not staying at one place for a long time. They are on the run," Deputy Border Affairs Minister Mirza Ali told AFP.

As the United States pressed on with its campaign, the interim administration in Afghanistan played down reports of factional fighting and insisted it was in control of most of the country. Interior Minister Yunus Qanuni said bloody clashes between warlords in the north and east of the country were isolated incidents.

"We have problems only in two of the 32 provinces," he said, adding that the situation in eastern Paktia province, which saw some of the worst fighting, was "under control".

But the Afghan Islamic Press said a delegation dispatched by interim Afghan leader Hamid Karzai had failed to settle the bitter tribal feud.