Iran's opposition would unite with the government in case of an Israeli attack on its nuclear sites, former president Mohammad Khatami said on his website Monday.

"If there should one day be any military interference in Iran, then all factions, regardless of reformists or non-reformists, would get united and confront the attack," said the cleric, who is a harsh critic of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

Open gallery view The base in Parchin where Iran conducted nuclear tests. Credit: Google Earth, GeoEye

Khatami was referring to threats by Israel to attack Iran's nuclear sites after an International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) report accused Iran of using its nuclear technology to make warheads.

"There is a bad idea behind these claims and a scenario for increasing pressure on Iran," Khatami said.

Open gallery view Former Iranian President and Presidential candidate Mohammad Khatami in Tehran, Iran, Saturday, Feb. 14, 2009. Credit: AP

University students also said they plan to form a human chain around the Isfahan uranium conversion plant in central Iran, Fars news agency reported Monday.

The demonstration scheduled for Tuesday is intended as a symbolic gesture by the student organizations to show that Iranians are ready to sacrifice their lives if sites are attacked by Israel, it said.

Tehran dismissed the IAEA report as politically motivated and accused the UN nuclear watchdog of having become a political tool of the United States and Israel, both arch-foes of Iran.

קראו כתבה זו בעברית: מנהיג האופוזיציה באיראן: נשתף פעולה עם המשטר במקרה של תקיפה ישראלית