``Tehran has tried...To make the (United Nations) Security Council aware of a situation which can threaten international peace and security. After this process, Iran will have the right under chapter 7, article 51 of the UN Charter to take all necessary action in the context of legitimate defence,'' Tehran Radio said.

It followed reports that fighters of the purist Islamic militia rulingmost of Afghanistan might have killed at least 10 Iranian diplomats and a journalist when it captured the northern Opposition stronghold of Mazar-i-Sharif on August 8.

Meanwhile, The Washington Post, quoting senior Defence officials said Iran was poised to send``thousands of troops and dozens of fighter jets into Afghanistan.''

US intelligence analysts have warned the Pentagon and the White House that Iran, currently holding unprecedented war games on its border with Afghanistan, could send elite troops into Afghan territory any time, The Post said. Conceding that the US had ``very limited'' influence in the area, the daily quoted the officials as saying that ``any fight that breaks out between Iran and Afghanistan could be long and bloody because neither side possesses a definitive military advantage.''

A war would also destabilise a region where the US has considerable stated interests (the US Government wants to end Taliban's support to bin Laden's terrorist organisation and the drug trade), The Post said.

About 35,000 troops, 25 attack aircraft, 80 T-82 tanks, two SA-6 mobile missile launchers, 90 heavy artillery pieces and 60 armoured vehicles are reported to be engaged in unprecedented Iranian military exercise along its border.

Earlier,reports from Islamabad said Taliban militia had taken the unprecedented step of arming civilians in Nimroz province against possible attack from Iran or anti-Taliban fighters exiled there. Afghan Islamic Press said the Taliban had for the first time distributed weapons in the province, which borders Iran, after Tehran sent a large number of troops, aircraft, missile batteries and tanks last week for ``military manoeuvres.''

Quoting an official, AIP said about 4,000 opposition fighters have joined the Iranian troops.

Of them 3,000 were deployed against Herat and 1,500 against Nimroz across the border on the Iranian side, AIP said.

It said these are fighters from various anti-Taliban factions dominantly from the former Prime Minister Gulbadin Hikmatyar's Hizb-e-Islami and of former President Burhanuddin Rabbani, who was ousted from Kabul by Taliban in 1996.