US President George Bush has warned that Europe urgently needs a US missile defence system to guard against a possible attack by Iran on its allies, including Bulgaria.

In a speech at the US National Defense University, Bush said Tehran was seeking nuclear weapons and could develop intercontinental ballistic missiles able to reach the United States and blanket Europe by 2015.

"Iranian officials have declared they are developing missiles with a range of 1,200 miles, which would give them the capability to strike many of our NATO allies, including Greece, Romania, Bulgaria, and possibly Poland, Hungary, and Slovakia," Bush said at the National Defense University in Washington.

"With continued foreign assistance," Bush said, "Iran could develop an intercontinental ballistic missile capable of reaching the United States and all of Europe before 2015." He said the time to act was now.

American officials have spent months trying to cope diplomatically with bitter opposition to the missile defense plan from Moscow, which sees the American missile facilities as a potential threat.

"The Cold War is over. Russia is not our enemy," he said, noting that the US plan calls for 10 interceptor missiles in Poland and a radar in the Czech Republic and could be "easily overwhelmed" by Moscow's massive missile arsenal.

"It doesn't take a rocket scientist to do the math," quipped Bush.

He added that the system is intended to deter countries that would threaten the United States with ballistic missile attack, and the US does not consider Russia such a country.

American plans to build a missile defence shield in Europe topped the agenda of Bush visit to the Bulgarian capital in June, which wrapped up his European tour.

The Bulgarian government has expressed concerns that it may be left out of the plan, which would include facilities in Poland and the Czech Republic.

The American president however explained that the proposed anti-missile shield is aimed at long-range missiles, missiles that would fly over Bulgaria.

"There are anti-missile and defence systems available that would deal with intermediate range missiles. Just because Bulgaria is not a part of the longer range missiles does not mean that it won't be a part of the intermediate range shield," Bush told reporters in Sofia.

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