Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said in an interview broadcast on Sunday that that Iran is "not as close as it pretends" to developing nuclear weapons.

Olmert, speaking to Israel Radio, also said he believes that international diplomatic pressure on Iran will in the end keep Tehran from attaining nuclear weapons, and that a military confrontation over the issue will not be necessary.

"There is a possibility of bringing about a situation in which Iran is 'non-nuclear' without a military operation."

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"I hear the declarations of Iran's leaders from time to time, and I am telling you that Iran is far from crossing the technological line" into nuclear capability. "To my regret, it is not as far as I would wish, but it is not as close as it pretends."

Olmert said he believes "that continuing the diplomatic efforts to which Israel is a partner, will in the end, attain the goal, and that there is no need to latch onto all sorts of apocalyptic prophecies which have no basis in reality."