Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday that international sanctions have so far made no impact on Iran’s nuclear program and that a "strong and credible" military threat was needed

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday that international sanctions have so far made no impact on Iran's nuclear program and that a "strong and credible" military threat was needed.

"We have to be honest and say that all the sanctions and diplomacy so far have not set back the Iranian program by one iota," he said in a meeting with White House hopeful Mitt Romney.

"I believe that we need a strong and credible military threat, coupled with the sanctions, to have a chance to change that situation."

Netanyahu told Romney he shared the Republican challenger's position that a nuclear Iran was "the greatest danger facing the world."

His remarks came as the Haaretz newspaper ran a story saying that US National Security Adviser Tom Donilon had recently briefed Netanyahu on Washington's contingency plans for a pre-emptive strike on Iran's nuclear facilities.

But an Israeli official, speaking on condition of anonymity, denied the report.

"We don't comment on what is discussed in closed diplomatic meetings," the official told AFP. "But the story is full of factual errors." "Nothing in the article is correct."