**Israel has not ruled out any options in dealing with Iran’s nuclear programme, a senior Israeli official has said.**Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon said there was no guarantee Israel would not launch a strike on Iran’s nuclear facilities.
The comments come a day after Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said Israel had assured him it had no such plans.
Tehran says its nuclear programme is for civilian purposes and denies it is seeking to build nuclear weapons.
On Sunday, Mr Medvedev told CNN that Israeli President Shimon Peres had told him in person Israel was not planning any strikes on Iran.
But Mr Ayalon said the remark was “certainly not a guarantee” that there would be no military action.
“I don’t think that, with all due respect, the Russian president is authorised to speak for Israel and certainly we have not taken any option off the table,” he said.
Mr Ayalon’s comments were echoed by Israel’s army chief, Lt Gen Gabi Ashkenazi, who said Israel had “the right to defend itself and all options are on the table”.