"I believe the measures taken by the international community lately are more effective than some think they are," he added, before denying that Israel had ever been a motivating force behind "extreme action".

"If all the international community would join forces and apply the necessary pressure on Iran, it would have such an impact that at the end of the day it would force them to reconsider their position," Olmert said.

"Israel was never pushing anyone to any extreme action."

The Jewish state has come to regard Iran as its chief enemy, alarmed by Tehran's nuclear programme and repeated calls from President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's repeated calls for Israel's destruction.

Israel and the West accuse Iran of seeking to acquire an atomic bomb through its nuclear programme, which Tehran insists is solely for peaceful purposes.

Israel was a major advocate of UN sanctions against Iran, which the Security Council adopted in December over Tehran's repeated refusal to fully cooperate with the UN atomic energy watchdog or suspend uranium enrichment.

Olmert was speaking after recent reports revealed Iran has begun the installation of 3,000 centrifuges in a huge underground bunker at its main nuclear facility in the central town of Natanz.

Israel is itself considered to be the sole nuclear weapons power in the Middle East. It does not officially acknowlege that it has an arsenal although Olmert appeared to do so in an apparent lapse last year.

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