WASHINGTON - President George W. Bush rejected a plea from Israel last year to help it raid Iran's main nuclear complex.
Bush is said to have opted instead to authorize a new U.S. covert action plan aimed at sabotaging Iran's suspected nuclear weapons program.
The issue is reported in the New York Times.
Israel's request was for specialized bunker-busting bombs that it wanted for an attack that tentatively involved flying over Iraq to reach Iran's major nuclear complex at Natanz.
That's where Oram's only known uranium enrichment plan is located.
The White House deflected requests for the bombs and flyover but said it would improve intelligence-sharing with Israel on covert U.S. efforts to sabotage Iran's nuclear program.
The covert efforts, which began in early 2008, involved plans to penetrate Iran's nuclear supply chain abroad.
They also included efforts to undermine electrical systems and other networks on which Iran relies, the Times said, citing interviews with current and former U.S. officials.
They also quoted outside experts and international nuclear inspectors who spoke on condition of anonymity.
The covert program will be handed off to President-elect Barack Obama, who will decide whether to continue it.
According to the Times, Bush decided against an overt attack based on input from top administration officials such as Defence Secretary Robert Gates, who believed that doing so would likely prove ineffective and could ignite a broader Middle East war.
Israel made the push for permission to fly over Iraq for an attack on Iran following its anger over a U.S. intelligence assessment in late 2007.
That assessment concluded that Iran had effectively suspended its development of nuclear weapons four years earlier.
Israel sought to rebut the report, providing evidence to U.S. intelligence officials that they said indicated the Iranians were still working on a weapon.
Gordon Johndroe, spokesman for the National Security Council, declined to comment Saturday.
