"This is not an Israeli problem. It's a problem of every nation in the world," he said after talks with his British counterpart Tony Blair in London.

"I believe that the living nations understand what needs to be done and I hope that the present efforts will succeed."

Iran has faced repeated calls to suspend its uranium enrichment activities amid fears that it could use the technology not for domestic electricity as it claims, but to develop an atomic weapons capability.

Olmert, who repeated his assertion that "Israel will not tolerate nuclear weapons in the hands of Iran", described the crisis as a "serious danger" for them and the world at large.

He said Israel has "reason to be worried" when Iran's hardline President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad makes calls for the Jewish state to be "wiped off the map", particularly when he appeared to be seeking nuclear weapons.

The "serious danger" justified the "extraordinary measures" by the European troika of Britain, France and Germany, plus the United States, China and Russia, to persuade the Islamic republic to accept a package of incentives to suspend its programme, he added.