An Israeli defense official believes Tel Aviv must rush to carry out a military strike against Iran’s nuclear facilities even without US approval, a report says.

A ‘senior defense official’ said that Tel Aviv believed a military strike could ‘significantly delay’ what it claims to be an Iranian nuclear weapons program, the Israeli daily Maariv reported on Wednesday, without revealing the official’s name.

The official added that Israel could carry out such an attack without US approval but time was running out for it to be effective.

“The Iranians are creating fortifications and camouflage to defend against a strike from the air,” said the official.

“The military option is real and at the disposal of Israel’s leaders, but time is working against them.”

However, in contradictory remarks, the official also said that there was ‘no point’ in a strike in the near term, before US President Barack Obama’s proposed talks with Iran begin and before officials in Washington ‘despair of the effectiveness of the talks’.

Israel, the Middle East’s sole nuclear-armed regime, continues to repeat its allegations against Tehran, despite the lack of evidence to prove that Iran is conducting any nuclear activity other than the peaceful work Tehran insists it is pursuing.

This is while Iran’s nuclear cites, which are power generation facilities, remain under the strict supervision of UN nuclear watchdog inspectors.

(IRIN News)