Olmert says still time to prevent Iranian bomb

By Tova Cohen

TOKYO (Reuters) - Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said on Wednesday it was not inevitable that Iran would produce a nuclear bomb -- a goal Iran says it is not trying to achieve.

"I think there is time," said Olmert when asked by reporters if Iran could be stopped from achieving nuclear weapons capability. "The time is not unlimited but it is defined by more than months."

Olmert, who ends a four day visit to Japan on Thursday, made the comments a day after Israel's military intelligence chief told a parliamentary committee in Jerusalem that Iran could have a nuclear option by 2010.

Israel, widely believed to have the only nuclear arsenal in the Middle East, has said a nuclear Iran would be a threat to its existence and called for tougher international sanctions to press the Islamic Republic to halt uranium enrichment.

Olmert said that he and Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda discussed the issue of Iran "in all of its manifestations, including all of its connections with North Korea".

"You can summarize by saying there is more or less an agreement to act on these two fronts, which are not unrelated."

Olmert, the first Israeli prime minister to visit Tokyo in 11 years, provided Japanese officials with information regarding the sale of long-range missiles by North Korea to Iran, an Israeli official said.

Iran, one of Israel's most bitter enemies, denies it is seeking atomic arms and says it is pursuing its nuclear program for power generation.