French President Nicolas Sarkozy warned on Thursday that a unilateral attack by Israel against Iran to thwart the Islamic Republic's nuclear threat would be an "absolute catastrophe".

Speaking after a summit of G8 and other leaders in Italy which agreed on the need to pursue a negotiated deal with Tehran, Sarkozy said, "Israel should know that it is not alone and look at all this calm. If I have fought so hard in the name of France to get people talking about Iran it's also a message to the Israelis that they are not alone."