Visiting Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said in Washington yesterday that Israel will not accept a nuclear Iran hours before he met US President George W. Bush at the White House.

"We will not tolerate the possession of nuclear weapons by Iran," Olmert told NBC television's "Today Show" program.

Asked whether Israel will consider a preemptive strike targeting Tehran's nuclear facilities, Olmert said: "I hope we don't have to reach that stage," noting his first choice is a negotiated resolution.

"Every compromise that will stop Iran from acquiring nuclear capabilities, which will be acceptable to President Bush, would be acceptable to me," Olmert said.

Israel believes itself the designated target of nuclear and ballistic missile activities in Iran, whose president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, has called for Israel to be wiped off the map.

Olmert arrived in the United States days after legislative elections that altered the U.S. political landscape, and possibly U.S. foreign policy.