Israel would not be able to halt Iran’s reported quest for atomic weapons with a single strike, a senior Israeli defence official said on Sunday.<\/span><\/p>\n Israel and the West suspect Iran is trying to use its nuclear program to develop atomic weapons, a charge denied by Tehran which says it wants to generate electricity.<\/span><\/p>\n Both Israel and the United States have hinted they might consider taking military action as a last resort to stop Iran getting the bomb.<\/span><\/p>\n The defence official, who in line with Israeli army guidelines declined to be identified, mentioned Iran during a review of the security situation in the Middle East in a briefing to foreign reporters.<\/span><\/p>\n “We’re not talking about Iraq or Syria where one strike would derail a program,” the official said, referring to Israel’s 1981 air strike that destroyed Iraq’s atomic reactor and the bombing in 2007 of a Syrian site which the UN atomic agency said was very likely a nuclear reactor.<\/span><\/p>\n “With Iran it’s a different project. There is no one silver bullet you can hit and that’s over,” the official said.<\/span><\/p>\n Israeli leaders have urged the United States and other Western countries to present Tehran with a credible military threat to back up economic sanctions already in place.<\/span><\/p>\n The official said the United States stood a better chance of forcing Iran to change its mind over its nuclear program than Israel.<\/span><\/p>\n “With all respect to Israel . . . the greatest fear of the (Iranian) regime is the USA. There is no question about it.”<\/span><\/p>\n Some analysts say the likelihood of an imminent Israeli war with Iran has ebbed, thanks to the perceived success of political pressure on Tehran.<\/span><\/p>\n