Attack on Iran 'opens Pandora's Box'

Defense think-tanks warn Washington that any military strike against Iran will result in catastrophic consequences for the White House.

London-based defense analyst Andrew Brookes believes while Washington expects to have the superior firepower, the Iranian army would strike back against US forces in Iraq.

Amid growing tension between Tehran and Washington over Iran's nuclear program, analysts suspect President Bush could launch 'surgical military strikes' against Iran's nuclear sites before he leaves office in January 2009.

"The hard bit is what comes afterward and that is opening Pandora's Box," said Brookes, who works for the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) think-tank.

Defense analyst Tim Ripley has said the nightmare scenario for the White House would be launching a war it could then not finish.

While Tehran has repeatedly emphasized it would never initiate a war on any state, the Islamic republic has warned the West of a 'quagmire deeper than Iraq', should Washington and its allies launch any military strike on the country. Press TV