Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi urged Iraq on Tuesday to allow U.N. inspectors to check for weapons of mass destruction and said continued refusal could lead to military conflict with the United States.

Koizumi made the warning in a speech in New York on the eve of the first anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attack on the U.S. and later paid a visit to ground zero, the scene of destruction a year ago in lower Manhattan.

Delivering the speech at the Council on Foreign Relations, Koizumi expressed his resolve to normalize diplomatic ties with North Korea and reiterated his determination to revive the flagging economy.