Israel's Dagan: No Iran nukes until 2015

JERUSALEM, Jan. 7 (UPI) -- On his last day as Israel's spy chief, Meir Dagan said Iran is not likely to have nuclear weapon capability before 2015.

Dagan said a series of malfunctions and setbacks sustained by the Islamic Republic mean Iran is still far from producing a nuclear weapon, Haaretz reported Friday.

Dagan spoke before the Knesset's Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee before retiring Thursday after eight years as director of Mossad, the Israeli intelligence organization.

Tamir Pardo was appointed to succeed him.

Dagan's term as head of the spy agency focused on the Iranian nuclear threat, and the assassinations of Hamas and Hezbollah leaders and Iranian scientists, most of which were never pinned on Mossad, the newspaper said.