Apologies for the light blogging as of late. Deadlines and all that…

Anyway, this is potentially of interest. Israeli Prime Minister
Ehud Olmert offered a relatively low-key assessment of Iran’s nuclear program in a 22 April broadcast on Reshet Bet Radio:

OLMERT: *I recommend in every issue, and in these sensitive issues too, not to conduct a policy on the basis of panic and self-intimidation. There is no need for that.* There is a huge unprecedented effort by the entire international community, in order to succeed in preventing Iran from turning into a nuclear power —

Q: — but in the meantime, the centrifuges are spinning and increasing in numbers.

OLMERT: The fact is that the Security Council has already passed two resolutions unanimously which implement unprecedented sanctions on Iran, and we have the basis to assume that these steps, eventually, will also achieve the results which we did not know if we can expect — in advance. It is a process which will still continue.

*I think that there is a possibility to cause, even without a military operation, that Iran will not be nuclear.* From time to time I hear the declarations of Iran’s leaders and *I’m telling you that Iran is far from crossing the technological threshold.*

Unfortunately, *it is as far as I wished it would be, but it is not as close as it is pretending to be.* And I believe that the continued international efforts which Israel is part of, will eventually achieve the goal, and *there is no need to get caught up in all kinds of apocalyptic prophecies which have no basis in reality.*