Army Radio quoted a top official in Jerusalem claiming that a senior member of President Bush’s entourage had said in a closed meeting that Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney thought military action against Iran was called for.

“The hesitancy of Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice” was preventing the administration from deciding to launch an attack on Iran.

However, the White House dismissed the story. “We remain opposed to Iran’s ambitions to obtain a nuclear weapon. To that end, we are working to bring tough diplomatic and economic pressure on the Iranians to get them to change their behavior and to halt their uranium enrichment program.”

“As the president has said, no president of the United States should ever take options off the table, but our preference and our actions for dealing with this matter remain through peaceful diplomatic means. Nothing has changed in that regard.”

Last week Bush told the Post that “Iran is an incredibly negative influence” and “the biggest long-term threat to peace in the Middle East,” but that the US was “pushing back hard and will continue…