Tel Aviv, Dec. 4 : Israel''s Defence Forces (IDF) are reportedly bracing themselves up for a possibel strike on Iranian nuclear facilities with or without US coordination.

According to a Jerusalem Post report, Israel has said that its first preference would be to coordinate with the US, but if this does seem feasible, a host of other options are being considered actively.

"It is always better to coordinate. But we are also preparing options that do not include coordination," one top Defense Ministry official explained last week.

Israeli officials have said it would be difficult, but not impossible, to launch a strike against Iran without receiving codes from the US Air Force, which controls Iraqi airspace. Israel also asked for the codes in 1991 during the First Gulf War, but Washington refused then.

"There are a wide range of risks one takes when embarking on such an operation," a top Israeli official said.

Several news reports have claimed recently that US President George W. Bush has refused to give Israel a green light for an attack on Iranian facilities.

Last week, Iran''s nuclear chief Gholam Reza Aghazadeh revealed that the country was operating more than 5,000 centrifuges at its uranium enrichment plant in Natanz and would continue to install centrifuges and enrich uranium to produce nuclear fuel for the country''s future nuclear power plants.

The Islamic republic has said it plans to move toward large-scale uranium enrichment that will ultimately involve 54,000 centrifuges.

Israeli officials said last week that the drop in oil prices and the continued sanctions on Iran were having an effect, although they had yet to stop Teheran''s nuclear program.

"There is still time and there is no need to rush into an operation right now. The regime there is already falling apart and will likely no longer be in power 10 years from now,"another Israeli official said.

The IAF was preparing for a wide range of options, OC Air Force Maj.-Gen. Ido Nehushtan recently said, adding that all it would take to launch an operation was a decision by the political echelon.

"The air force is a very robust and flexible force," he told Der Spiegel. "We are ready to do whatever is demanded of us."

On Monday, Teheran dismissed the possibility of an Israeli strike, saying it didn''t take Israel seriously. (ANI)