Israel's recently-retired spy chief says the Israeli government has no immediate plans to attack Iran's nuclear program, which the United States and its allies suspect is aimed at producing weapons.

In comments published Thursday in the Israeli media, Meir Dagan says he is “not familiar” with any government decision to strike Iranian nuclear facilities in 2011 or 2012.

Dagan served as the chief of Israel's Mossad spy agency until last September. His comments, made Wednesday at Tel Aviv University, were his most extensive on foreign policy since retiring.

Iran denies seeking nuclear weapons and says its work is designed to generate electricity for peaceful use. Israel sees a nuclear-armed Iran as a threat to its existence because of calls by Iranian leaders for the destruction of the Jewish state.

Israeli Prime Netanyahu said last month Israel reserves the “right to defend itself” against Iran. He also said Israel supports efforts by the United States and other major powers to implement sanctions aimed at pressuring Iran to stop nuclear work that could be diverted to military use.

Dagan said he believes Mr. Netanyahu should consider “all options” for dealing with Iran and should “not run straight for the war option.”

The former spy chief said an Israeli attack on Iran would only delay rather than destroy the Iranian nuclear program. He also warned that such action would ignite a regional war and put Israel in an “impossible” situation.