The world is losing patience with Iran over its nuclear programme, the head of the UN nuclear watchdog agency, Mohamed ElBaradei, said yesterday.

However, he cautioned against using military action.

"After three years, the international community is losing patience with Iran," said ElBaradei, in Oslo, Norway to receive the Nobel Peace Prize today.

The International Atomic Energy Agency chief, however, insisted: "I don't believe there is a military solution to the issue.

"A military solution would be completely counterproductive," he said, pointing out that diplomacy and co-operation tend to yield "better results than the stick".

The agency has threatened to take Iran before the UN Security Council for violating nuclear non-proliferation rules.

Iran has meanwhile insisted that its nuclear programme is merely designed to meet domestic energy needs, while the US, Israel and others have charged it is a cover for a programme to develop an atom bomb.

ElBaradei insisted that there was still a chance to find a diplomatic solution.

"But this window of opportunity is not forever," he said, adding that "the next couple of months are going to be very crucial".

By next March, he said he hoped "things will have moved in the right direction and that we're not talking about the Security Council".

PHOTO CAPTION

Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency Mohamed Elbaradei at the Norwegian Nobel Institute in Oslo. (AFP)