Mideast not Obama's top priority, says Israeli intelligence officer

JERUSALEM, May 12 -- Middle East is not the top priority of U.S. President Barack Obama's administration, Israeli Military Intelligence chief Amos Yadlin was quoted by local media as saying on Tuesday.

Instead, Afghanistan, Iraq and Pakistan were topping the U.S. agenda, while Iran and the Israeli-Arab conflict were lower on the list, Yadlin was quoted by the website of Jerusalem Post as saying as part of the intelligence assessment for the year 2009-2010 presented to the Knesset (parliament) Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee.

He stressed that Obama's approach is completely different from that of his predecessor George W. Bush, and Obama advocates international dialogue in order to increase the U.S. standing.

As to the Iranian nuclear track, Yadlin warned that "Iran is very close to attaining nuclear weapons technology but the possibility of war breaking out this year is low."

Iran was continuing to race towards fully mastering nuclear technology and was doing everything to get around the obstacles placed in front of it, according to the military intelligence chief.

The United States and Israel have accused Iran of trying to develop nuclear weapons under the cover of a civilian nuclear program, but Iran has repeatedly denied the allegations, insisting that its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes only.