Former Israeli Mossad chief warns Iran

JERUSALEM, Aug. 2 (UPI) -- Speculation over a possible Israeli military strike on Iran's nuclear sites continues with a former Mossad chief saying the Iranians should be scared.

"If I were an Iranian, I would be very fearful of the next 12 weeks," Efraim Halevy, a former Israel intelligence agency chief, told The New York Times.

His statements came as U.S. Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta met with the Israeli leadership on Wednesday and stressed his country's commitment to stopping Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon.

"If they make the decision to proceed with a nuclear weapon ... we have options that we are prepared to implement to ensure that that does not happen," The Jerusalem Post quoted Panetta saying.

Despite his reassurances, disagreements between the U.S. and Israeli leadership remain, the Post said.

"We clearly have something to lose by this stretched time [during] which sanctions and diplomacy takes place, because the Iranians are moving forward, not just in enrichment," the newspaper quoted Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak saying.

"Right now the Iranian regime believes that the international community does not have the will to stop its nuclear program. This must change and it must change quickly because time to resolve this issue peacefully is running out," The New York Times quoted Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu saying.