ISRAEL’S prime minister designate, Ehud Olmert, yesterday denounced the president of Iran as a “psychopath” and likened him to Adolf Hitler, in a growing confrontation over the Iranian nuclear programme.

The attack on President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who has called for Israel to be “wiped off the map”, came as it emerged that the head of Mossad, the Israeli intelligence agency, secretly discussed the nuclear programme with officials in Washington last week.

Meir Dagan, the Mossad chief, is believed to have passed on the latest Israeli intelligence on covert Iranian plans for enriching uranium, with a warning that Tehran may be nearer to acquiring nuclear weapons than widely believed.

The Israeli leader’s comments, his most forceful condemnation of Ahmadinejad, came in an interview with the German newspaper Bild.

“Ahmadinejad speaks today like Hitler before taking power,” Olmert said of the president, who has questioned the Holocaust and suggested the Jewish state be moved to Europe or North America. “So you see, we are dealing with a psychopath of the worst kind — with an anti-semite. God forbid that this man ever gets his hands on nuclear weapons, to carry out his threats.”

The strength of Olmert’s denunciation reflected mounting concern not only about Iran’s nuclear projects, but also about the international community’s perceived failure to respond decisively to what many Israelis see as a threat that will ultimately have to be eliminated by force.

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) admitted on Friday that it was alarmed by “gaps” in its knowledge about Iran’s centrifuge programme and the role of the Iranian military in undeclared nuclear work. An Israeli source said Mossad had evidence of hidden uranium enrichment sites in Iran “which can short-cut their timetable in the race for their first bomb”.

Dagan, a stocky former commando who was injured in the 1967 six-day war, was sent to Washington by Olmert, the victor of last month’s Israeli elections, to prepare the way for his own visit to the White House on May 23. The Mossad boss is thought to have held meetings with counterparts at the CIA, the Pentagon and national security council. “Dagan is not given to small talk and niceties,” said an Israeli intelligence source, who believes he told the Americans: “This is what we know and this is what we’ll do if you continue to do nothing.”

Iran’s top nuclear negotiator, Ali Larijani, vowed last week that Iran’s nuclear programme would go underground if attacked. But many intelligence experts believe it is already operating a parallel uranium enrichment programme concealed from IAEA inspections.

“When I read the recent (intelligence) reports regarding Iran, I saw a monster in the making,” said Dr Yuval Steinitz, chairman of the Israeli parliament’s foreign and defence committee, who oversees Mossad’s activities in Iran.

Steinitz fears the Islamic republic might be only a year away from developing a bomb, although the Iranians claim to be pursuing a peaceful nuclear energy programme. “There is only one option that is worse than military action against Iran and that is to sit and do nothing,” Steinitz said.

Although the Israelis would like the Americans to take military action against Iran, should it become necessary, President George W Bush is in no rush to order airstrikes. After the IAEA released its report last week, Bush said “diplomatic options are just beginning” and promised to work with allies to achieve a “peaceful solution”.

Britain, France, Germany and America hope to pass a resolution at the United Nations security council this week mandating Iran to suspend its work on uranium enrichment. If Iran refuses to back down, the security council could impose targeted sanctions.

Ahmadinejad boasted last week that he did not “give a damn” about UN resolutions.

If America does not get its way at the security council, it intends to raise the possibility of isolating Iran economically at the July G8 summit in St Petersburg.

A senior Israeli source said in Washington last week that Israel could not allow Iran to spin out negotiations indefinitely. “If we do not see any progress on the political or economic track that convinces the Iranians to back down, one of the parties will use the military option,” he said.

Explore World News

• World Agenda

• Iraq News

• US & Americas News

• Europe News

• Middle East News

• Asia News

• Africa News

• Ireland News

Times Recommends

• Michael Jackson: Not the final chapter
• Indian Army spends10m rupees on golf buggies
• Sacha Baron Cohen forced to tone down Brüno